Artemis I Headed back to Earth

View of the Earth and the Moon from Orion (Credit: NASA)

After a highly successful flight, the Artemis I Orion is set to return to Earth on December 11. Artemis I launched on the Space Launch System rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 16. After the ICPS separated from the core stage, it executed the Perigee Raise Maneuver, placing Orion into a higher and more stable orbit around the Earth. At around T+90 minutes after liftoff, the ICPS successfully completed the Trans Lunar Injection burn, or TLI, before separating from Orion. This sent the spacecraft on a trajectory into lunar influence. After around six days and several course correction maneuvers, Orion executed the Outbound Powered Lunar Flyby, sending Orion around 80 miles above the Moon's surface. After a few more days of coasting, Orion entered a Distant Retrograde Orbit around the Moon. While there, teams in Houston tested numerous systems on the spacecraft and broke the record for the farthest distance from Earth a human-rated spacecraft has gone, beating Apollo 13. After leaving DRO, Orion did another flyby of the Moon, using it's gravitational influence to slingshot back to Earth. Orion will splashdown off the coast of San Diego on December 11 at 12:47pm ET.