History made by NASA; All eyes on Artemis IV mission in 2028

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The safe return of four humans to Earth after visiting the moon and its far side will henceforth be considered a legendary moment in lunar history. Artemis II is a mission led by the American space agency NASA, to establish human habitation on the moon. The mission team returned without any worries. After a legendary 10-day space journey, the Orion Integrity spacecraft landed in the Pacific Ocean with four travellers at 5.37 am Indian time yesterday.

5.22 am: Orion entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of about 40,000 km (33 times the speed of sound). The spacecraft was surrounded by intense heat of up to 2,800 degrees Celsius. The spacecraft survived this, thanks to a strong heat shield. Soon, the giant parachutes on the spacecraft deployed.

5.37 am: The speed gradually decreased, and it splashed down on the coast of San Diego in the Pacific Ocean near the United States. Navy and NASA rescue teams rushed to Orion from the USS John P. Murtha.

In 2027, Artemis III will dock the Orion spacecraft with the Lunar Lander in low Earth orbit. Later, with the help of this lander, humans will set up a base on the Moon with the Artemis IV mission in 2028.

1. After 1972, humans went back to the moon. They came as close as 6,550 km to the lunar surface. They saw the sunrise and sunset of the Earth from the lunar orbit.

2. The record of 4,00,171 km travelled by man in space was revised to 4,06,600 km.

3. They saw the far side of the moon, where sunlight does not shine, a treasure trove of secrets that cannot be seen from Earth.

4. They completely lost contact with the Earth in space and regained it within 40 minutes.

5. They captured a total solar eclipse that lasted 53 minutes on the far side of the moon.

👉Cost: $4.1 billion (Rs. 38,167 crore)

👉Passengers: Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen