HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Drawing ever closer to Earth, the tidied up their lunar cruiser for the upcoming 鈥渇ireball鈥� return and reflected on , describing it as surreal and profound.
As the next-to-last day of their flight dawned Thursday, humanity’s first were less than 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) from home with the odometer clicking down.
鈥淲e have to get back. There鈥檚 so much data that you鈥檝e seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There are so many more pictures, so many more stories,” said pilot Victor Glover, adding that “riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well.鈥�
Being cut off from all of humanity for nearly an hour while behind the moon was especially 鈥渟urreal,鈥� according to commander Reid Wiseman.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot that our brains have to process … and it is a true gift,” Wiseman said late Wednesday during the crew’s first news conference since before liftoff.
While out of contact behind the moon Monday, Wiseman, Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen became the most distant humans ever, clocking in at a record 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth before heading back. As they emerged from behind the moon, they experienced a wondrous total solar eclipse as the orb blocked the sun from their perspective.
Launching from Florida on April 1 diminished the amount of illumination on the lunar far side, Glover noted, but the eclipse was the consolation prize 鈥渁nd it was one of the greatest gifts.鈥�
While acknowledging anxiety over Friday’s return, NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said the crew’s “expressions of love and devotion to family鈥� have warmed hearts worldwide and served as 鈥渁 great example of why we go and do these missions.鈥�
鈥滻f you can鈥檛 take love to the stars, then what are we doing?” he said. “That鈥檚 why we send humans instead of robots sometimes, that鈥檚 why we have that firsthand witness.鈥�
Friday’s reentry and Pacific splashdown off the coast of San Diego 鈥� as dynamic and dangerous as liftoff 鈥� now topped everyone’s minds. The recovery ship, USS John P. Murtha, was already at sea, with a squadron of military planes and helicopters poised to join the operation.
It’s the first time that NASA and the Defense Department have teamed up for a lunar crew’s reentry since Apollo 17 in 1972. Their Orion capsule will come screaming back, hitting the atmosphere at a predicted 34,965 feet (10,657 meters) per second 鈥� or 23,840 mph (38,367 kph) 鈥� not a record but still mind-bogglingly fast.
Flight director Jeff Radigan said the capsule must nail the reentry angle within a single degree.
鈥淟et鈥檚 not beat around the bush. We have to hit that angle correctly 鈥� otherwise we鈥檙e not going to have a successful reentry,鈥� he said.
Mission Control will be paying close attention to how the capsule’s heat shield holds up. During the only other Orion test flight to the moon 鈥� in 2022 without a crew 鈥� the heat shield suffered considerably more damage than expected from the 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) of reentry.
Instead of replacing Artemis II’s heat shield, which would have forced another lengthy delay, NASA tweaked the capsule’s descent through the atmosphere to reduce the blisteringly hot exposure. Next year’s Artemis III and beyond will fly with redesigned heat shields.
Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV in 2028 will attempt to land two astronauts near the moon’s south pole, setting the stage for what NASA hopes will be a sustainable lunar base.
NASA officials have been loath to provide their risk assessment numbers for the nearly 10-day mission, acknowledging launch and entry as the biggest threats.
鈥淲e鈥檙e down to the wire now,鈥� said NASA’s Lakiesha Hawkins. “We鈥檙e down to the end of the mission, and obviously getting the crew back home and getting them landed safely, is a significant part of the risk that鈥檚 still in front of us.鈥�
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