#spacecraft
Come on out! Pete Conrad emerges from the Command Module following splashdown of Gemini 11 in the Atlantic Ocean, Sept 1966. The penultimate mission of Project Gemini saw Conrad & Richard Gordon perform the 1st direct-ascent rendezvous with an AGT (Agena Target Vehicle). The G11 craft docked with the AGT on 1st orbit, just 94 minutes after launch. Backup crew for the mission were Neil Armstrong & William Anders.
What’s that out my window? A lunar rendezvous is in progress between the Command Service Module & Lunar Module during Apollo 10, May 1969. A10 was the 2nd mission to orbit the moon (after Apollo 8) & served as a dress rehearsal for a landing on the moon. The mission was flown by John Young, Tom Stafford & Gene Cernan. They flew the Lunar Module 8.4 nautical miles above the moon’s surface. This is the point where a powered lunar descent would commence. On the way home they set a speed record for a crewed spacecraft at 39,897 km/h (11.08 km/s or 24,791 mph); a record which still stands today.
Leaving for work. Apollo 15 was the 4th mission to land on the moon. Astronauts David Scott & James Irwin became the first to drive on the moon courtesy the Lunar Rover. The pair landed by Hadley Rille which was originally planned to be the landing spot for Apollo 19 before budget cuts nixed the mission. The Aug 1971 mission was Scott’s 3rd and final spaceflight while it was Irwin’s & Command Module Pilot Al Worden’s first and only. What a historic mission.
The incredible rescue. The Command Module of Apollo 13 floats with astronauts James Lovell, Fred Haise & Jack Swigert catching their breaths. A damaged wire had ignited on the Service Module following a stir of the oxygen tanks. The explosion left the astronauts’ supply of oxygen venting out into space. The Lunar Module then became the lifeboat for the 3. It was designed to support 2 men on the moon for 2 days; Mission Control though worked around the clock to improvise & create new procedures to allow it to support 3 men for 4 days. Just incredible. As always, I recommend director Ron Howard’s classic ‘Apollo 13’ for your viewing pleasure to see the full story.
Setting up shop. The Lunar Module Antares has touched down upon the moon with the instruments set up during Apollo 14, Feb 1971. The mission was the first to land in the Lunar Highlands & the final ‘H-Mission’, or 2-day stay on the moon. After this, Apollo flights would be J-Missions, or 3-day lunar stays. This mission with Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell & Stuart Roosa was to take place in 1970 but was pushed back following an investigation into the explosion upon the Apollo 13 spacecraft.
Splashing down. Astronauts Gus Grissom & John Young sit within their Gemini 3 capsule nicknamed ‘Molly Brown’ following splashdown of the first crewed mission of Project Gemini, March 1965. The pair had just completed 3 orbits about Earth over a near 5-hour period. G3 was the first US space mission with 2 astronauts & also the first in which thrusters were fired by the crew to change the size & shape of their orbit. This was an important step in spacecraft maneuverability essential for a potential future moon landing. Following G3, Mission Control moved from Cape Kennedy to Houston, Texas.
Credit: Plum Brooke
The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission has successfully completed several months of simulated space environment System level testing in the NASA-owned thermal vacuum chamber at Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA.
The testing phase was split into two phases - a 47 day thermal vacuum test and a 14 day electromagnetic compatibility, followed by an interference test in ambient conditions which both simulate the conditions the spacecraft will encounter during its voyage to the Moon and back to Earth.
‘Today marked an important milestone for the Artemis I mission to the Moon,’ said Airbus Head of Space Exploration, Andreas Hammer.
‘We proved to our customers ESA and NASA that the European Service Module, designed and built by our engineers in Bremen – supported by companies in 10 European countries - meets the requirements to withstand the harsh conditions in space.
‘The Artemis programme will land the first woman and next man on the Moon and bring them back safely to Earth, we are proud to contribute to this endeavour with all our know-how, expertise and passion.’
Pleased with the results of this crucial test, the engineering teams from Airbus, the European Space Agency (ESA), Lockheed Martin and NASA have proved the spacecraft is suitable to navigate safely through the extreme conditions that it will experience in space.
Orion will be transported back to the Kennedy Space Center to undergo further testing and prepare the spacecraft for integration with the Space Launch System rocket, beginning the next era of exploration.
Artemis I will travel around the Moon and back to Earth. Airbus in Bremen is already building the second Orion Service Module for Artemis II, where