Post #3015055
2026-03-28 16:43 UTC
A sneak peek at the #ArtemisII trajectory...
Captured at Mission Time 08:06:36:00 (2026-04-10), Orion is seen on its return leg to Earth at 1.65 km/s. This is the "Free-Return" in action, four days after the spacecraft reached Perilune.
It bears repeating:
This mission is a massive international achievement, regardless of the MAGA noise.
The spacecraft is powered by the European Service Module (ESM-2) made by #ESA/Airbus in Bremen.
Replies (1)
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@Russssty@mastodon.social 2026-03-28 16:45
#ArtemisII will reach its closest lunar approach of approximately 6,500 km on April 6, 2026, at 22:48 UTC. In doing so, it will break the record set by Apollo 13 for the farthest distance traveled by a crewed vehicle. Can you believe it’s been over 50 years since humans were this far from home? BTW: On the return journey, Orion will hit the atmosphere at nearly 11 km/s (40,000 km/h). That’s Mach 32, with a peak temperature of 2,760 Celsius (5000 F) grilling the heat shield!