Skip to main content

Watch 25-day Orion mission squeezed into just 60 seconds

The European Space Agency (ESA) has shared a cinematic video that encapsulates the recent Artemis I mission in just 60 seconds.

That’s packing a lot in for a voyage that lasted 25 days, but we’re sure you’ll agree, the presentation does a great job in pulling together the mission’s key moments while also including some of the mesmerizing imagery captured by the Orion spacecraft during its rendezvous with the moon.

Artemis I | Liftoff to splashdown

The uncrewed Artemis I mission tested NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on their first orbital mission. ESA designed and oversaw the development of the Orion’s service module, which supplies air, electricity, and propulsion to the capsule.

Recommended Videos

During the trip, the spacecraft traveled to within just 80 miles of the lunar surface, and also traveled further from Earth than any human-rated spacecraft — 268,553 miles — beating the previous record set during the Apollo era five decades ago.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The Orion’s successful homecoming on December 11 suggests that the hardware performed as expected, though NASA engineers are now checking data from the Orion spacecraft to confirm the all of the capsule’s systems operated properly during the mission.

The early signs are certainly good. “Orion has returned from the moon and is safely back on planet Earth,” Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager, said shortly after the spacecraft’s homecoming. “With splashdown, we have successfully operated Orion in the deep space environment, where it exceeded our expectations, and demonstrated that Orion can withstand the extreme conditions of returning through Earth’s atmosphere from lunar velocities.”

If NASA concludes that everything did indeed function precisely as expected, the space agency can get on with planning Artemis II, which will send Orion on the same route around the moon, only this time with astronauts aboard.

Artemis II could take place as early as 2024, and following that, the highly anticipated Artemis III mission will put the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, a voyage that will also mark the first astronaut moon landing since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

Looking even further ahead, NASA wants to construct a permanent base on the moon where astronauts can live and work for extended periods. The moon could also serve as a steppingstone for the first crewed mission to Mars, which NASA believes could take place in the 2030s.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
NASA’s mega moon rocket has just begun a 900-mile journey
The core stage of NASA's SLS rocket.

NASA’s powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is set to blast four astronauts to space next year on the epic Artemis II mission that will come within about 80 miles of the lunar surface.

In preparation for the mission, the rocket’s 213-foot-tall (65 meters) core stage has just embarked on a rather more leisurely journey -- on a barge heading for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Read more
Watch Starliner heading back to the launchpad at Kennedy
Boeing Space's Starliner spacecraft heading back to the launchpad.

Boeing Space's Starliner spacecraft heading back to the launchpad atop an Atlas V rocket. NASA/Boeing Space

In a big step toward its first crewed flight, Boeing Space’s Starliner spacecraft and United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket were transported to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.

Read more
NASA conducts ‘moonwalks’ in the Arizona desert for Artemis lunar mission
NASA astronauts training in Arizona.

NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Andre Douglas push a tool cart loaded with lunar tools through the San Francisco Volcanic Field north of Flagstaff, Arizona, as they practice moonwalking operations for Artemis III. NASA/Josh Valcarcel

Being an astronaut may sound glamorous, but it isn’t all rocket launches and floating around the International Space Station. The vast majority of the time is spent in training with your feet planted on terra firma.

Read more