New Delhi, April 5 (IANS). On the fourth day of US space agency NASA’s Artemis II mission, crew members successfully demonstrated manual piloting in the Orion spacecraft. This mission is a test of returning back to Earth by revolving around the Moon. The crew also reviewed plans for a Moon flyby.
Astronaut Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency took turns controlling the Orion spacecraft. For 41 minutes they tested two different thruster modes. This test gave engineers more information about the piloting capabilities of the vehicle. They will take and analyze photographs during their six-hour flyby on Monday, April 6. The flyby period will begin at 2:45 pm on April 6.
Mission commander Reed Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover will repeat this demonstration on April 9, the eighth day of the flight. This will give the ground team a better understanding of various aspects of the vehicle’s performance.
The crew reviewed a list of lunar surface features sent by the lunar science team. Now, during a six-hour lunar flyby on Monday, April 6, they will photograph and analyze these locations. The flyby will begin at 2:45 pm, during which the main windows of the Orion spacecraft will be pointed towards the moon. Earlier, the crew took some selfies using the Orion spacecraft’s solar panel cameras. These pictures will be sent to Earth in the coming days.
The Artemis II mission is scheduled to take a manned spacecraft to the Moon for the first time since Apollo. The four-member cast includes Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. The objective of the mission is to test the deep space capabilities of the Orion spacecraft, in order to prepare for future human settlement on the Moon.
By April 5, the fifth day of the mission, the speed of the capsule will slow down due to the pull of Earth’s gravity. As soon as it enters the gravitational field of the Moon, its speed will start increasing again and it will start moving rapidly towards the Moon.
–IANS
mt/pm
