Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Artemis I mission shares spectacular view of Earth after a historic launch

 begin quote from:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/world/artemis-1-launch-nasa-scn/index.html

Artemis I mission shares spectacular view of Earth after a historic launch

1962:  US statesman John F Kennedy, 35th president of the USA, making a speech.  (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
Here's what's been accomplished since JFK's 'moonshot' speech
01:58
kristin fisher artemis i second launch scrub 09 03 2022
Why NASA canceled launch of massive new rocket
02:50
black hole audio nasa new day
Eerie audio is what a black hole sounds like, NASA says
01:54
Webb NIRCam composite image from two filters -- F212N (orange) and F335M (cyan) -- of Jupiter system, unlabeled (top) and labeled (bottom). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU) and Judy Schmidt.
Why NASA's new Jupiter images matter to space exploration
01:59
TOPSHOT - Spectators watch as the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 16, 2022. - NASA's Artemis 1 mission is a 25-and-a-half day voyage beyond the far side of the Moon and back. The meticulously choreographed uncrewed flight should yield spectacular images as well as valuable scientific data. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
See Artemis I rocket launch
01:13
nasa ufo navy vpx
NASA launches study on 'unidentified aerial phenomena'
02:51
The Pillars of Creation are set off in a kaleidoscope of colour in the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared-light view. The pillars look like arches and spires rising out of a desert landscape, but are filled with semi-transparent gas and dust, and ever changing. This is a region where young stars are forming -- or have barely burst from their dusty cocoons as they continue to form. Protostars are the scene-stealers in this Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image. These are the bright red orbs that sometimes appear with eight diffraction spikes. When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually begin shining brightly. Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from stars that are still forming. Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust. This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years. Although it may appear that near-infrared light has allowed Webb to "pierce through" the background to reveal great cosmic distances beyond the pillars, the interstellar medium stands in the way, like a drawn curtain. This is also the reason why there are no distant galaxies in this view. This translucent layer of gas blocks our view of the deeper universe. Plus, dust is lit up by the collective light from the packed "party" of stars that have burst free from the pillars. It's like standing in a well-lit room looking out a window -- the interior light reflects on the pane, obscuring the scene outside and, in turn, illuminating the activity at the party inside. Webb's new view of the Pillars of Creation will help researchers revamp models of star formation.
A giant hand? A galloping horse? See stunning image captured by James Webb Telescope
01:31
Swift's X-Ray Telescope captured the afterglow of GRB 221009A about an hour after it was first detected. The bright rings form as a result of X-rays scattered by otherwise unobservable dust layers within our galaxy that lie in the direction of the burst. The dark vertical line is an artifact of the imaging system.
Credit: NASA/Swift/A. Beardmore (University of Leicester)
Scientists dub latest telescope sighting 'the BOAT' or 'the Brightest of All Time'
02:17
bluShift Aerospace 03
Watch this rocket ignite using fuel that you can eat
05:10
A view of Dimorphos as the DART spacecraft hurtled towards it on Monday, September 26.
'We have impact': DART successfully alters orbit of asteroid
01:09
Commander Nicole Mann greets her family while departing crew quarters for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Joe Skipper
Watch: SpaceX mission brings first Native American woman to space
01:40
screengrab space barbie
See female astronaut take young girls' questions with her lookalike Barbie
01:39
DART
'Streaks of rocks and debris': New image captures DART asteroid crash
01:24
Sample Collection and Rock Analysis at 'Wildcat Ridge' (https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/26988/sample-collection-and-rock-analysis-at-wildcat-ridge/)
This is where Perseverance found more organic matter than ever on Mars
01:29
blue origin rocket launch fail DT thumb vpx
See moment Blue Origin rocket catches fire during launch
02:05
1962:  US statesman John F Kennedy, 35th president of the USA, making a speech.  (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
Here's what's been accomplished since JFK's 'moonshot' speech
01:58
kristin fisher artemis i second launch scrub 09 03 2022
Why NASA canceled launch of massive new rocket
02:50
black hole audio nasa new day
Eerie audio is what a black hole sounds like, NASA says
01:54
Webb NIRCam composite image from two filters -- F212N (orange) and F335M (cyan) -- of Jupiter system, unlabeled (top) and labeled (bottom). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Ricardo Hueso (UPV/EHU) and Judy Schmidt.
Why NASA's new Jupiter images matter to space exploration
01:59
TOPSHOT - Spectators watch as the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 16, 2022. - NASA's Artemis 1 mission is a 25-and-a-half day voyage beyond the far side of the Moon and back. The meticulously choreographed uncrewed flight should yield spectacular images as well as valuable scientific data. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
See Artemis I rocket launch
01:13
nasa ufo navy vpx
NASA launches study on 'unidentified aerial phenomena'
02:51
The Pillars of Creation are set off in a kaleidoscope of colour in the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope's near-infrared-light view. The pillars look like arches and spires rising out of a desert landscape, but are filled with semi-transparent gas and dust, and ever changing. This is a region where young stars are forming -- or have barely burst from their dusty cocoons as they continue to form. Protostars are the scene-stealers in this Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image. These are the bright red orbs that sometimes appear with eight diffraction spikes. When knots with sufficient mass form within the pillars, they begin to collapse under their own gravity, slowly heat up, and eventually begin shining brightly. Along the edges of the pillars are wavy lines that look like lava. These are ejections from stars that are still forming. Young stars periodically shoot out jets that can interact within clouds of material, like these thick pillars of gas and dust. This sometimes also results in bow shocks, which can form wavy patterns like a boat does as it moves through water. These young stars are estimated to be only a few hundred thousand years old, and will continue to form for millions of years. Although it may appear that near-infrared light has allowed Webb to "pierce through" the background to reveal great cosmic distances beyond the pillars, the interstellar medium stands in the way, like a drawn curtain. This is also the reason why there are no distant galaxies in this view. This translucent layer of gas blocks our view of the deeper universe. Plus, dust is lit up by the collective light from the packed "party" of stars that have burst free from the pillars. It's like standing in a well-lit room looking out a window -- the interior light reflects on the pane, obscuring the scene outside and, in turn, illuminating the activity at the party inside. Webb's new view of the Pillars of Creation will help researchers revamp models of star formation.
A giant hand? A galloping horse? See stunning image captured by James Webb Telescope
01:31
Swift's X-Ray Telescope captured the afterglow of GRB 221009A about an hour after it was first detected. The bright rings form as a result of X-rays scattered by otherwise unobservable dust layers within our galaxy that lie in the direction of the burst. The dark vertical line is an artifact of the imaging system.
Credit: NASA/Swift/A. Beardmore (University of Leicester)
Scientists dub latest telescope sighting 'the BOAT' or 'the Brightest of All Time'
02:17

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.

Cape Canaveral, Florida CNN  — 

The historic Artemis I mission took flight in the early hours of Wednesday morning after months of anticipation. The milestone event kicked off a journey that will send an uncrewed spacecraft around the moon, paving the way for NASA to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.

The Orion spacecraft’s spectacular first views of Earth were shared more than nine hours into the journey, with the vehicle about 57,000 miles away from our planet on its way to the moon.

It’s the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972 that a spacecraft designed to carry humans has captured a view of Earth.

The Orion spacecraft shared its first view of Earth more than nine hours after launch Wednesday morning.

The towering, 322-foot-tall (98-meter-tall) Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket lit its engines at 1:47 a.m. ET. It emitted up to 9 million pounds (4.1 million kilograms) of thrust to haul itself off the launchpad in Florida and into the air, streaking vibrantly across the night sky.

Atop the rocket was the Orion spacecraft, a gumdrop-shaped capsule that broke away from the rocket after reaching space. Orion is designed to carry humans, but its passengers for this test mission are of the inanimate variety, including some mannequins collecting vital data to help future live crews.

The SLS rocket expended millions of pounds of fuel before parts of the rocket began breaking away, and Orion was left to soar through orbit with just one large engine. That engine then set off two powerful burns to put the spacecraft on the correct trajectory toward the moon. Then, about two hours after liftoff, the rocket engine also fell away, leaving Orion to free-fly for the remainder of its journey.

Nearly eight hours after launch, Orion experienced its outbound trajectory correction burn, a mission milestone that ensures the spacecraft stays on the right path. The burn sets Orion up for its lunar flyby and closest approach of the moon on November 21 before entering a distant retrograde orbit around the moon on November 25.

Orion will come within about 60 miles (96 kilometers) of the lunar surface during its close flyby next week.

The spacecraft is outfitted with 16 cameras inside and outside to document different its trip around the moon from different perspectives. One image shared Wednesday showed Commander Moonikin Campos, one of the Artemis mannequins riding in the capsule, decked out in a survival suit.

Commander Moonikin Campos (left) can be seen sitting inside the Orion capsule.

Orion is expected to log roughly 1.3 million miles (2 million kilometers), taking a path that will lead it farther than any other spacecraft designed for human flight has traveled, according to NASA. After orbiting the moon, Orion will make its return trip, completing its journey in about 25.5 days. The capsule is then scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on December 11, when recovery teams will be waiting nearby to haul it to safety.

Throughout the mission, NASA engineers will be keeping a close eye on the spacecraft’s performance. The team will evaluate whether Orion performs as intended and will be ready to support its first crewed mission to lunar orbit, which is currently scheduled for 2024.

This mission also marks the debut flight of the SLS rocket as the most powerful ever to reach Earth’s orbit, boasting 15% more thrust than the Saturn V rocket that powered NASA’s 20th century moon landings.

And this mission is just the first in what’s expected to be a long series of increasingly difficult Artemis missions as NASA works toward its goal of establishing a permanent outpost at the moon. Artemis II will follow a similar path as Artemis I but will have astronauts on board. Artemis III, slated for later this decade, is expected to land a woman and a person of color on the lunar surface for the first time.

A long road to liftoff

The mission team encountered a number of setbacks in the lead-up to Wednesday morning’s launch, including technical issues with the mega moon rocket and two hurricanes that have rolled through the launch site.

Fueling the SLS rocket with superchilled liquid hydrogen proved to be one main issue that forced NASA to wave off earlier takeoff attempts, but on Tuesday, the tanks were filled despite leak issues that halted fueling hours before launch.

Read more: The big numbers that make the Artemis I mission a monumental feat

To address that problem, NASA deployed what it calls a “red crew” — a group of personnel specially trained to make repairs while the rocket is loaded with propellant. They tightened some nuts and bolts to stop the fuel leaks.

“The rocket, it’s alive, it’s creaking, its making venting noises — it’s pretty scary. So … my heart was pumping. My nerves were going but, yeah, we showed up today. When we walked up the stairs. We were ready to rock and roll,” red crew member Trent Annis said in an interview on NASA TV after launch.

Other NASA personnel at the launch site’s firing room, where agency officials make crucial decisions in the hours and moments before liftoff, celebrated a victory.

“Well for once I might be speechless,” said Artemis I launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the first woman to hold such a role.

“I have talked a lot about appreciating the moment that you’re in,” Blackwell-Thompson said in remarks to the engineers in the firing room. “And we have worked hard as a team. You guys have worked hard as a team to this moment. This is your moment.”

Blackwell-Thompson then declared it was time for tie-cutting, a NASA tradition in which launch operators snip off the ends of their business ties. Blackwell-Thompson’s was cut by shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach, and she pledged to the others in the room, “I’ll stay all night if I have to. It’ll be my pleasure to cut ties.”

Several astronauts were on-site for the launch, and NASA administrator Bill Nelson told reporters that he watched liftoff from a nearby rooftop with a few of the them.

“There were a bunch there that would like to be on that rocket,” Nelson said.

INTERACTIVE: Trace the path Artemis I will take around the moon and back

No comments: