NASA’s Orion capsule returned from the moon Sunday, parachuting into the Pacific off Mexico to conclude a test flight that should clear the way for astronauts on the next lunar flyby.
The incoming capsule hit the atmosphere at Mach 32, or 32 times the speed of sound, and endured reentry temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit before splashing down west of Baja California near Guadalupe Island. A Navy ship quickly moved in to recover the spacecraft and its silent occupants — three test dummies rigged with vibration sensors and radiation monitors.
This image provided by NASA shows the Orion spacecraft approaching Earth on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, as it neared the end of its three-week test flight to the moon. In an Apollo throwback, NASA held a splashdown party at Houston’s Johnson Space Center on Sunday, with employees and their families gathering to watch the broadcast of Orion’s homecoming. Next door, the visitor center threw a bash for the public.
U.S. Navy divers secure NASA's Orion capsule during recovery operations after it splashed down in the Pacific off Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, concluding a 25-day test flight. The mission should clear the way for astronauts on the program’s next lunar flyby, set for 2024. “People are anxious, we know that,” Vanessa Wyche, Johnson’s director, told reporters. Added Nelson: “The American people, just like the original seven astronauts in the Mercury days, are going to want to know about these astronauts.”
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