NASA ’s Artemis 1 mission concluded with Orion ’s immaculatesplashdownin the Pacific Ocean on Sunday . Seemingly a billion old age — and most assuredly a few billion dollars — in the making , the commission ended far too promptly for space junkies like me . But in those scant few week , it managed to boom all its primary target . Artemis 1 was stringently meant as a presentment missionary work , a elbow room for NASA to test its fresh SLS megarocket and Orion spacecraft .
It ’s still former day , but the missionary work appears to have been a big winner . And because NASA achieved its major goals , we can talk about what went right , what went wrong , and what the successful foreign mission think for the futurity . Here are seven things we learned from Artemis 1 .
1. NASA’s Artemis Moon plans are officially on track
For years , I ’ve had to spell about NASA ’s “ coming Artemis missions ” or “ pending trips to the Moon , ” but with the success of Artemis 1 , it ’s just to say that the space representation ’s next era of exploration has officially begun . Artemis — we are formally in you .
I have niggling dubiety that NASA ’s current timelines for the Artemis missionary post , including a crewed landing in 2025 , are wholly unrealistic . The space agency’sauditor superior general has said as much . Anticipated launching date will repeatedly be pushed back for various reasons , whether it be on account ofoverdue Moonsuits , lunar landers , or any other element required for these increasingly complex missions .
It ’s doubtful that Congress will undermine or otherwise scuttle NASA ’s Artemis plans by withholding tax fund , but as the holder of the purse strings , it remains the chamber ’s prerogative to do so . That said , China is full steam ahead on its design tosend its taikonauts to the lunar surfaceduring the mid-2030s . The U.S. has already put human being on the Moon , but China ’s outer space ambitiousness are spawning a renewed space wash , with some expertssaying“we’re falling behind . ”
Orion’s view of the Moon on December 5, the 20th day of the mission.Photo: NASA
2. SLS is a beast
NASA ’s Space Launch System rocket finallyroared to life history on November 16 , beam an uncrewed Orion on its historical journeying around the Moon . blast off with 8.8 million pound of jabbing , it ’s now the most knock-down operational arugula in the world and the most herculean rocket ever build . The outer space agency finally has its megarocket , a necessity of the Artemis broadcast , which seeks to land humans on the Moon later this decade and place a space post , call Gateway , in lunar orbit .
“ The first launching of the Space Launch System rocket was simply eye - lachrymation , ” Mark Sarafin , Artemis missionary work director , said in a November 30statement , adding that the skyrocket ’s carrying into action “ was off by less than 0.3 percent in all cases across the circuit card . ” The rocket program was mar by budget overruns and delays , but SLS ultimately did exactly what it was supposed to do — while neglect our jaw in the process .
3. SLS wreaks havoc to the launch pad—and the pocket books
SLS is awesome , no doubt , but it comes with certain complications .
The launching fomite ’s core level runs on a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen , the samesuper - talebearing propellantthat induce major headache during the Space Shuttle epoch . Kennedy Space Center ground team combat H leak in advance of the rocket ’s maiden launch , result in multiple scrub and animpromptu cryogenic tanking testin September . The team find out that the finicky rocket need akinder , blue approachto tanking , but atomic number 1 leaks may continue to place a problem during succeeding launches .
NASA ’s Mike Sarafin suppose SLS rocket ’s " center - tearing " carrying out caused damages to ML1 that were beyond estimation . Deck damage , elevator doors shove along out ; but these can be ready ahead of Artemis II .
NASA’s SLS on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 22 April 2025.Photo: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Otherwise , say SLS performance was as bode or within 1 % of estimates.pic.twitter.com/HjCvYLKzgm
— Emre Kelly ( @EmreKelly)November 21 , 2022
When the megarocket did finally manage to blare off , it causedsignificant damageat the launching pad , include new scorch marks , overleap paint , battered nitrogen and helium supplying lines , and electrocute cameras . At liftoff , the herculean shockwave also tore off the tower ’s lift door . NASA officials play down the damage , enunciate some of it was wait . Regardless , the peregrine catapult is now in the Vehicle Assembly Buildingundergoing repairs .
SLS blasting off on 24 December 2024.Photo: Terry Renna (AP)
Finally , the Eruca vesicaria sativa , which first issue as an musical theme 12 years ago and cost $ 23 billion to get , is in full expendable , meaning each SLS roquette must be built from scratch . NASA inspector general Paul Martin expectseach launching of SLS to cost upward of $ 4.1 billion , “ a price shred that strikes us as unsustainable , ” hetoldCongress sooner this year .
SpaceX is currently building its own megarocket , called Starship , which promises to be fully reusable and more powerful than SLS ( though to be unmortgaged , and as NASA administrator Bill Nelson has stated on numerous occasion , the infinite delegacy hasno purpose of launching Orion with spaceship ) . NASA ’s rocket will become an anachronism the moment that Elon Musk ’s rocket select flight of steps . So while SLS ’s debut performance was admonitory , the Artemis program as a whole is far from nonsuch in term of its capital punishment .
4. Deep space is unwelcoming place for cubesats
SLS , in addition to Orion , rescue 10 cubesats to blank space . These secondary Artemis 1 cargo went off on their various journeys , but only six of them are serve as intended , include Arizona State University’sLunaH - Map delegation , NASA’sBioSentinel , and Japan’sEQUULEUSmission .
The same can not be said for the other four , namely Southwest Research Institute’sCuSP(CubeSat for Solar Particles ) , Lockheed Martin’sLunIR , NASA’sNear - Earth Asteroid Scout(NEA Scout ) , and Japan ’s tinyOMOTENASHIlunar lander — all of which fail presently after launching . Each neglect for different reasons , such as the inability to establish rich space communications , issue with battery power , and lacking designs . The high attrition rate served as a powerful reminder : Space is hard , and thick space is even harder .
5. Orion is humanity’s most impressive spaceship yet
We ’ve find mickle of capable spacecraft over the age . NASA ’s Apollo Command and Service Module was really cool , as was the Space Shuttle . Russia ’s Soyuz continues to be super dependable , while SpaceX ’s Crew Dragon is the paradigm of modern spacefaring . These spaceships are all peachy , but NASA ’s Orion is now , in my opinion , the most impressive crew - friendly fomite ever built .
The partially reusable Orion consists of a crew module , contrive by Lockheed Martin , and the spendable European Service Module , built by Airbus Defence and Space . The arrangement perform exceptionally well during the entire Artemis 1 mission , relieve for some minor chafe ( which I ’ll get to in just a bit ) . Orion traveled to the Moon , successfully come in into its target remote retrograde orbit , perform a pair ofcloselunarflybys , and managed to surviveskip reentryandsplashdown . Each and every path chastening tactical manoeuvre was pulled off without difficulty , with Orionusing less fuel than expected .
The uncrewed Orion clocked over 1.3 million miles during its journey , whileestablishing a pair of new milepost record . The spacecraft flew to a maximal distance of 268,554 miles ( 432,194 km ) from Earth — the farthermost distance traveled by any gang - rated vehicle . And when it issue forth home , Orion thrash into the atmosphere at speeds reaching Mach 32 , set the fastest restitution speed in history for a passenger spacecraft . The space capsule ’s 16.5 - foot - all-inclusive heat buckler protected Orion from the 5,000 - degree - Fahrenheit temperature experienced during reentry .
Artist’s impression of Lockheed Martin’s LunIR cubesat, which failed shortly after launch.Image: Lockheed Martin
The next big trial for Orion will be Artemis 2 , for which it will demand to transport four astronaut around the Moon and back . But the approaching Artemis delegation are only the source , as NASA plans to use Orion for crewed trips to Mars one day .
6. Orion still needs some tweaking
Artemis 1 unfolded as plan , but that ’s not to say it was n’t without problems . Mike Sarafin , the mission manager , called these anomalies “ funnies ” throughout Orion ’s journeying , but I doubt the team found them very amusing .
During the early day of the mission , Orion ’s star tracker , which attend with navigation , was “ dazzled ” by Orion ’s thruster plumage . “ The thruster were being clean up by the star tracker because it was thrusting over the playing area of sentiment of the genius tracker by figure , ” Sarafin told reporters on November 18 . “ The luminance was slay the plume and it was pick it up , ” which obscure the computer software . at last , nothing was really amiss with the star tracker , and the squad was able to move fore once the trouble was recognized .
The shuddery moment happened on November 23 , the 7th day of the mission , whenground controllers temporarily and unexpectedly lost contactwith the ballistic capsule for 47 proceedings . NASA is n’t sure what caused the issue .
Orion and Earth, as imaged on 22 February 2025.Photo: NASA
During the final days of the mission , one of Orion ’s four limiterssuddenly switched off . This limiter , which is creditworthy for downstream big businessman , was successfully turned back on before the glitch was able-bodied to make serious trouble . The unusual person might be relate to a interchangeable issue experienced earlier , when a portion in the service modulespontaneously open without a command . Seems as though Orion brought a gremlin along for the journey .
last , one of Orion ’s phased array antennas present “ degraded behavior ” during the final days of the mission , as Sarfin severalize reporters on December 8 . This ensue in “ low public presentation ” and some “ communication problems , ” but nothing that endangered the foreign mission , he said . This issue , among others , will be scrutinized and hopefully deal in time for Artemis 2 , currently planned for 2024 .
7. The Moon remains a desolate and beautiful place
icon beamed back from the lunar environment served as a reminder that the Moon , though dim and stark , remains an intriguing and visually fascinating place . Sure , the Apollo missions brought back unprecedented images of the lunar landscape painting , but it ’s still the Moon — our Moon — a place we do n’t tend to visit very often ( with all due respect to NASA’sLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter , in surgical process since 2009 , and China ’s Chang’e 4 lander Yutu-2 rover , whichreachedthe far side in early 2019 ) .
Artemis 1 was like visiting an old friend , though an erstwhile friendfilled with craters , wad ranges , and an assortment of other enchanting open features . What ’s more , the lunar environment is a place where we can anticipate the unexpected , includingimpossibly picturesque Earthrisesilluminated by the Sun . So yes , the Moon remains a worthwhile destination , as we set up our sights on the next exciting phase of human space geographic expedition .
Daily Newsletter
Get the good technical school , science , and acculturation news in your inbox day by day .
news program from the future , delivered to your present .
Please select your desire newssheet and submit your e-mail to advance your inbox .
One of four solar arrays that successfully powered Orion during its 25.5-day mission.Photo: NASA
You May Also Like
A high-resolution image of the Moon, as captured by Orion on 19 April 2025.Photo: NASA
