Artemis II crew to end record-setting mission with Pacific Ocean splashdown

7 hours and 23 minutes in NASA app

They're going to be late for coachella smh

Just a quick jaunt to the moon and back.

Yeah it really shows that travel to the moon is feasible if we ever set up industry there

If you jump high and fast enough you may be able to ride a cruise missile and recreate Dr Strangelove

Aw bummer

I assume test runs before the actual landing mission. Apollo was the same.

Testing systems on spacecraft, doing test runs. Gotta make sure the rocket works, along with all of the science tools. The Apollo program had similar missions where they sent a crew to the moon to test systems out. Apollo 8 they sent a crew to orbit the moon. It is where the famous "Earthrise" photo came from. Apollo 10 they sent a crew to the moon to test out the maneuverability of the lander. They called it the "dress rehearsal". The crew flew the lander down to 8 miles above the surface before flying it back up to the command module.

They tested new equipment, sensors, did scouting, and I believe tested a new pressure suit while in the airlock. There were various experiments they ran while up there as well, not to mention studying future landing/build sites and terrain. They also named 2 craters/features.

The actual lander module isn't done yet. This was to test the other parts. SpaceX was supposed to make the lander, which originally was supposed to land on the moon during Artemis 3, but it's behind schedule so now they are just going to test a lander, if one is ready for testing then, but not actually land. Blue Origin is also working on a lander so basically whichever is ready first will be used. The actual landing will hopefully happen during Artemis 4 in 2028. Unlike Apollo, which launched them together, on Artemis the crew module and lander are launched separately on different rockets and then will dock together at the moon, so they are more independent. The docking procedure at the moon should be tested on Artemis 3, unless the landers aren't ready for that.

trial run for a base on the moon. it's on nasa website

To test and make sure what they currently have is safe/functions as intended. You can't have serious errors in space, there is no real way to come back from them, without some incredible miracles. Now that they know the technology works and performs as required/needed, they can add more steps to the next mission.

\*SLAP

Which wont be comfortable but shouldn't be more Gs than their liftoff. Just a bit more sudden

no thrusters will be used once the orion capsule detaches from the service module, just physics and the drogue, pilot, and main parachutes to slow it down. They're estimating 3.5-4G on re-entry (they eliminated the skip re-entry and are doing a faster direct entry).

the good news is it has never once happened in the history of space travel