The Orion spaceship will return to Earth on Sunday after three weeks of journey in space and circling the Moon.
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carried the Orion spaceship into space when it was launched on November 16. The Orion entered the Moon's orbit on November 25. After circling the Moon, the Orion is now on its way to Earth.
The Orion spaceship was an uncrewed flight as part of the Artemis I mission. It was a dry run for Artemis II mission in which the same journey will be undertaken but with humans onboard.
The Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean where it will be recovered by the US Navy. The time of splash down is 12:40 pm EST (11:10 pm Indian time).
What's Orion spaceship?
Orion spaceship is part of the Artemis I mission, which is the first of the three planned missions under the Artemis space program.
The Orion spaceship is an uncrweed craft. It's equipped with dummies and sensors which have checked how a journey around the Moon would affect humans.
There will be three human models in the Orion spacecraft, one of which will be in the commander's seat. These three models will be fitted with censors to check how the unprecedented space journey would affect the human body. It will help prepare for crewed missions in the next two stages of Artemis program.
"Helga and Zohar [names of two human models] are designed to measure the effects of radiation on women’s bodies in space, and Moonikin Campos [the third model] will sit in the commander’s seat to track just how bumpy a voyage to the moon might be for future human crew members," explains Vox.
What's Artemis space program?
The Artemis space program consists of three missions — Artemis I, II, and III.
With the Orion's return to Earth, the Artemis I would be successfully concluded.
In Artemis II, the spacecraft would recreate Aretmis I's journey but with humans onboard. It will make history by taking humans to the farthest point yet in space.
In Artemis III, NASA would land humans on Moon. It would be the first time humans would land on Moon in over five decades.
The landing on Moon will not be the end-goal of the Artemis program but a stepping stone for further space exploration. There are plans to set up a base camp on the Moon for long-term stay, which would serve as a base for further travel to Mars.
