NASA / ESA - Orion Crew Vehicle patch.
Nov 27, 2022
On the 12th day of the Artemis I mission, team members conducted another planned test of the star trackers aboard Orion as it continued along a distant retrograde orbit of the Moon, and began another reaction control thruster flight test.
Engineers hope to characterize the alignment between the star trackers and the Orion inertial measurements units, both of which are part of the guidance, navigation and control system, by exposing different areas of the spacecraft to the Sun and activating the star trackers in different thermal states. Star trackers are navigation tools that measure the positions of stars to help the spacecraft determine its orientation. The inertial measurement units contain three devices, called gyros, used to measure spacecraft body rotation rates, and three accelerometers used to measure spacecraft accelerations.
Image above: On flight day 9, NASA’s Orion spacecraft captured imagery looking back at the Moon from a camera mounted on one of its solar arrays. The spacecraft is enroute to a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. Image Credit: NASA.
Together, the star tracker and inertial measurement unit data are used by Orion’s vehicle management computers to compute spacecraft position, velocity, and attitude. The measurements will help engineers understand how thermal states affect the accuracy of the navigation state, which ultimately affects the amount of propellant needed for spacecraft maneuvers. Read more about Orion’s guidance, navigation, and control system in the Artemis I reference guide.
Engineers began a development flight test objective today that changed the minimum jet firing time for the reaction control thrusters over a period of 24 hours. This test objective is designed to exercise the reaction control system jets in a different configuration to model how thruster jets will be used for the crewed Artemis II mission.
Teams also activated and interacted with the Callisto payload, a technology demonstration from Lockheed Martin in collaboration with Amazon and Cisco. Callisto is located in the Orion cabin and will test voice activated and video technology in the deep space environment.
Monday, Nov. 28, Orion will reach its farthest distance from Earth when it is nearly 270,000 miles from our home planet.
As of 4:30 p.m. CST, Orion was over 264,000 miles from Earth and 45,600 miles from the Moon, cruising at 1,750 miles per hour.
To follow the mission real-time, you can track Orion during its mission around the Moon and back.
Related articles:
Artemis I enters Moon orbit
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/artemis-i-enters-moon-orbit.html
Artemis I – Flight Day 11: Orion Surpasses Apollo 13 Record Distance from Earth
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/artemis-i-flight-day-11-orion-surpasses.html
Flight Day 10: Orion Enters Distant Retrograde Orbit
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/flight-day-10-orion-enters-distant.html
Artemis I – Flight Day Nine: Orion One Day Away from Distant Retrograde Insertion
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/artemis-i-flight-day-nine-orion-one-day.html
Latest Updates from Artemis I
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/latest-updates-from-artemis-i.html
Artemis I – Flight Day Six: Orion Performs Lunar Flyby, Closest Outbound Approach
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/artemis-i-flight-day-six-orion-performs.html
Artemis powering past the Moon
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/artemis-powering-past-moon.html
Orion Successfully Completes Lunar Flyby, Re-acquires Signal with Earth
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/orion-successfully-completes-lunar.html
Artemis I – Flight Day Four: Testing WiFi Signals, Radiator System, GO for Outbound Powered Flyby
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/artemis-i-flight-day-four-testing-wifi.html
NASA’s Artemis I Cameras to Offer New Views of Orion, Earth, Moon
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/nasas-artemis-i-cameras-to-offer-new.html
Artemis I Liftoff! 50 years after Apollo 17, Orion on Its Way to the Moon
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/11/artemis-i-liftoff-50-years-after-apollo.html
Related links:
Artemis I reference guide: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i/img/Artemis%20I%20Reference%20Guide_Inter.pdf
Artemis II mission: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-first-flight-with-crew-important-step-on-long-term-return-to-the-moon-missions-to/
Callisto: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/callisto-technology-demonstration-to-fly-aboard-orion-for-artemis-i/
Track Orion: https://www.nasa.gov/trackartemis
Artemis I: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1
Orion spacecraft (ESA): https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion
Orion Spacecraft (NASA): https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html
Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Sandra Jones.
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