After flying to the moon and again, a NASA spacecraft ought to lastly end its lengthy journey by the tip of 2022.
The Orion spacecraft is on a truck sure for NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart in coastal Florida after splashing down within the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11 to conclude Artemis 1, NASA officers mentioned in an replace late Thursday (Dec. 21). The spacecraft orbited the moon earlier than splashdown, and has been in preparation for its cross-country journey to Florida since arriving in San Diego port on Dec. 13.
“As soon as at Kennedy, technicians will open the hatch and unload a number of payloads … as a part of de-servicing operations,” NASA officers wrote (opens in new tab). “Along with eradicating the payloads, Orion’s warmth defend and different parts will probably be eliminated for evaluation, and remaining hazards will probably be offloaded.”
Associated: The 10 greatest images from NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission
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Earlier than occurring the truck, engineers did inspections of the home windows of Orion and placed on onerous covers, to guard the glass from the lengthy overland journey. Workforce members additionally deflated 5 airbags on the highest of Orion, which have been out there in case the spacecraft had splashed upside-down within the Pacific.
Other than a biology experiment faraway from Orion shortly after its arrival in port, lots of the payloads are nonetheless onboard the spacecraft. These strange things embrace three mannequins, a Snoopy plush doll, Shaun the Sheep, Lego collectible figurines and a space version of Amazon’s Alexa, amongst different issues.
NASA is predicted to call the crew of Artemis 2 in early 2023, with the Canadian Area Company making a parallel announcement about its personal astronaut on the mission. Artemis 2 will circle the moon no sooner than 2024 to check out life support systems on Orion. The primary touchdown mission, Artemis 3, is predicted to observe and put astronauts again on the moon in 2025 or so.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a ebook about space drugs. Observe her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
