At 9:07 p.m. in Argentina, the capsule Orion of the mission Artemis II It touched the Pacific Ocean after a descent at more than 40,000 kilometers per hour. Thus concluded a journey of 9 days, one hour and 32 minutes that took four astronauts to orbit the Moon and return to Earth, a milestone that had not occurred for more than fifty years. The head of NASA, Jared Isaacman, described the return as a moment of pride and anticipated that the goal is to return to the satellite to stay.
In the official broadcast of the POT, Isaacman He was one of the first to speak after the splashdown. In front of the cameras, he expressed: “I’m still speechless. The Jared of my childhood can’t believe what he just witnessed. I’ve waited almost my entire life to see this.”
The administrator thanked the workforce of the POTto the technical teams, to the United States Navy and to the international partners who made the safe return of the astronauts possible. “We just brought astronauts back from the Moon. Incredible”he emphasized when addressing those who followed the broadcast. For the head of the agency, the success of Artemis II is the result of “years, effort and long days” deployed by specialists from all over the country.
Artemis II: between emotion, technical rigor and a look to the future
The recovery operation was deployed in the Pacific Ocean, where the capsule Orion It floated stabilized by five orange balloons while awaiting the arrival of specialized personnel. astronauts, including Christina Koch and the commander Reid Wisemanconfirmed that they were in excellent health after enduring temperatures of up to 2,700 degrees Celsius during re-entry.
Isaacman celebrated the safety of the crew and stressed the importance of the mission: “I am very happy with the Artemis II mission, we learned a lot for the next Artemis III mission next year. There is a lot to celebrate and to work for the next launch. This is not a one-time thing. This is going to happen more and more often.”
The re-entry of the ship was followed minute by minute by the control teams, which confirmed the correct deployment of the parachutes and the ideal weather conditions for the descent. The control center of the POT monitored factors such as trajectory and angle of atmospheric entry. According to the agency, the capsule completed a trip of 1,118,624 kilometers and was designed to withstand the challenges of returnincluding a six-minute period of silence as it passes through the densest layers of the atmosphere.
“This is just the beginning”: presence on the Moon by 2028
During transmission, Isaacman He emphasized that the return of Artemis II is not an isolated event, but rather the beginning of a new stage. “This is just the beginning. We are going to do it again frequently, until we land on the Moon in 2028 and begin construction of our base”he stated.
The administrator’s vision of the POT aims at a permanent presence on the lunar surface and mastering the capabilities necessary for future missions to Mars. “We return to the Moon to stay. We want to establish a permanent presence and master the capabilities on the lunar surface to, in the future, carry out missions to Mars”he stated.
International cooperation and next steps towards Artemis III
Isaacman highlighted that the success of Artemis II was achieved thanks to international cooperation and the contribution of industrial partners. Astronauts from the Canadian Space Agencylike Jeremy Hansen, and the service module was provided by the European Space Agency. Furthermore, a few hours after the launch, the POT signed an agreement with the Italian Space Agency for the construction of a habitat module on the Moon.
“The best and brightest from NASA, our industrial partners and our international allies participate. Countries, allies and partners come together and demonstrate a commitment to this goal”said the administrator during the official transmission.
Attention is now focused on the preparation of Artemis IIIwhich will seek to complete the moon landing in 2028. Isaacman detailed the logistical advances: “We are already moving forward; the SRB segments have already arrived at KSC (Kennedy Space Center), the Artemis III core is moving on April 20, and mobile launcher one is back in the assembly building.”
The information collected on Artemis II will be key to the next mission. “We want to examine the thermal protection system and download all the information that they could not transmit for use in Artemis III,” pointed out Isaacman.
The official broadcast of the POT It allowed millions of people around the world to follow the return of the astronauts live. The recovery operation progressed under favorable weather conditions, with light winds and low waves. The capsule landed off the coast of San Diegomarking the final step of a journey that once again puts humanity on the route to the Moon.
