Watch a NASA Supercut of the Entire Artemis I Mission, From Launch to Landing

By Nancy Atkinson December 15, 2022
Watch a NASA Supercut of the Entire Artemis I Mission, From Launch to Landing

In case you missed any of the 25-day flight of Artemis 1, NASA has compiled a 25-minute highlight reel that showcases the top moments of the mission, from launch to splashdown.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ20H8sHo9w

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off on November 16, 2022 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending the Orion spacecraft out past the Moon, testing out the capsule in the harsh environment of deep space. This will prepare and ‘shake down’ both the spacecraft and the ground systems and teams before flying astronauts on Artemis II.

During the mission, Orion performed two lunar flybys, coming within 130 km (80 miles) of the lunar surface. At its farthest distance during the mission, Orion traveled nearly 435,000 km (270,000 miles) from Earth. In total during its 25.5-day circumlunar flight, the Orion spacecraft traveled more than 2.25 million km (1.4 million mi) and flew beyond the Moon’s orbit.  Additionally, Orion stayed in space longer than any spacecraft designed for astronauts without docking to a space station.

A portion of the far side of the Moon looms large just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this image taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion s solar arrays. Credit: NASA.

With cameras mounted on the solar arrays of the European Service Module, the mission sent back some images that are sure to become iconic of the Artemis program, showing of our tiny fragile world along with the Moon in the foreground.

Orion came back to Earth on December 11. During re-entry, Orion endured temperatures of about 2,300 degrees Celsius (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit). Within about 20 minutes, Orion slowed from nearly 25,000 mph to about 20 mph for its parachute-assisted splashdown.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 9:40 a.m. PST on Sunday, Dec. 11, after a 25.5 day mission to the Moon. Credit: NASA

Artemis 2 will carry astronauts on approximately the same orbital path. That mission is currently set to launch in May of 2024, but like Artemis 1, it will likely see several delays that will push the launch to later that year.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com