Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, December 2 (Xinhua)-- the NASA Space launch system (SLS) launched the Orion spacecraft at 14:47 on November 16, Beijing time. The mission, called Artemis 1, is an unmanned test mission around the moon, preparing for the follow-up of Artemis 2 and Artemis 3.

On December 1 local time, NASA announced that the unmanned spaceship had successfully ignited its engine and began to return to Earth. According to NASA live commentator Shaneequa Vereen, the ignition began at 04:54 EDT and lasted less than two minutes.

"Orion successfully ignited in a long-range retrograde orbit of 1 minute and 45 seconds," Vereen said. In the live broadcast of NASA, the spacecraft's solar panels could be seen gently rocking back and forth, with a "tiny earth" shining in the background.

According to reports, Orion has now begun its ten-day journey home. If all goes according to plan, it will return to Mother Earth on December 11 and eventually crash off the coast of California, where NASA and the U.S. Navy have begun training for recycling, marking the success of the Artemis 1 mission.

CTOnews.com learned that Artemis 1 was a test of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft to ensure that both were flight worthy and could safely send astronauts into deep space and return.

If Artemis 1 goes according to plan, the next mission, Artemis 2, will send astronauts into lunar orbit in 2024, followed by Artemis 3 before 2025.

So far, Artemis 1 has completed its mission, according to NASA. Project managers said the launch of the SLS showed that the launch vehicle was in full compliance with expected standards.

"the first launch of the SLS rocket was simply exciting," said Mike Salafin, mission manager of the Artemis. He added: "although our Orion mission is still ongoing and we continue to learn during the flight, the rocket system operates as designed and expected in every case."

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