March 29, 2024

NASA Artemis I – Flight Day Eight: Orion Spacecraft Exits Lunar Sphere Of Influence

In the propellant slosh test, flight controllers fire the reaction control system thrusters when propellant tanks are filled to different levels. This enables engineers to determine the result the propellant sloshing has on spacecraft trajectory and orientation as Orion moves through space.
Propellant movement, or slosh, in space is tough to design on Earth because liquid propellant relocations in a different way in tanks in area than on Earth due to the lack of gravity. These engines are in repaired positions and can be fired separately as needed to move the spacecraft in different instructions or rotate it into any position.
As of Wednesday, November 23, a total of about 3,971 pounds of propellant has been utilized, about 147 pounds less than prelaunch expected values. There is more than 2,000 pounds of margin available over what is prepared for use throughout the objective, an increase of about 74 pounds from prelaunch expected values.
Just after 1 p.m. CST on November 23, Orion was taking a trip about 212,437 miles (341,884 km) from Earth and was more than 48,064 miles from the Moon, cruising at 2,837 miles per hour (4,566 km per hour).
To follow the objective real-time, you can track Orion throughout its objective around the Moon and back, view a live stream from Orions cameras, and find the most recent imagery and videos on Flickr. The second episode of Artemis All Access is now offered as a wrap-up of the last couple of days of the mission with an expect whats following.

Flight Day 7, Orions Optical Navigation electronic camera recorded the far side of the Moon, as the spacecraft orbited 81.1 miles (130.5 km) above the surface area, heading for a Distant Retrograde Orbit. Orion utilizes the optical navigation camera to capture images of the Earth and the Moon at various phases and distances, providing a boosted body of information to license its efficiency under various lighting conditions as a way to assist orient the spacecraft on future objectives with crew. At 12:09 a.m. on Wednesday, NASAs Mission Control Center at the companys Johnson Space Center in Houston all of a sudden lost information to and from the spacecraft for 47 minutes while reconfiguring the communication link between Orion and Deep Space Network. This permits engineers to determine the effect the propellant sloshing has on spacecraft trajectory and orientation as Orion moves through area. Propellant motion, or slosh, in area is hard to model on Earth since liquid propellant relocations in a different way in tanks in space than on Earth due to the absence of gravity.

Artemis I is the first integrated flight test of NASAs deep space expedition system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: NASA/Liam Yanulis
On the 8th day of the Artemis I objective, NASAs Orion spacecraft continues to take a trip farther away from the Moon as it prepares to go into a distant retrograde orbit. The orbit is “distant” in the sense that its at a high elevation from the surface area of the Moon, and its “retrograde” because Orion will circumnavigate the Moon opposite the direction the Moon circumnavigates Earth.
Orion exited the gravitational sphere of impact of the Moon Tuesday, November 22, at 9:49 p.m. CST at a lunar altitude of 39,993 miles (64,362 km). The spacecraft will reach its farthest range from the Moon on Friday, November 25. This will occur simply before performing the next major burn to enter the orbit. The remote retrograde orbit insertion burn is the 2nd in a set of maneuvers required to move Orion into the extremely steady orbit that needs very little fuel consumption while circumnavigating the Moon.
Flight Day 7, Orions Optical Navigation electronic camera captured the far side of the Moon, as the spacecraft orbited 81.1 miles (130.5 km) above the surface area, heading for a Distant Retrograde Orbit. Orion utilizes the optical navigation video camera to capture images of the Earth and the Moon at different stages and distances, providing a boosted body of data to accredit its efficiency under various lighting conditions as a way to assist orient the spacecraft on future objectives with crew. Credit: NASA
At 12:09 a.m. on Wednesday, NASAs Mission Control Center at the agencys Johnson Space Center in Houston suddenly lost information to and from the spacecraft for 47 minutes while reconfiguring the communication link between Orion and Deep Space Network. Groups have fixed the issue, and the spacecraft stays in a healthy setup. Engineers are evaluating data to identify the cause of the problem.