Editor’s Note: Blog updated to reflect the cabin depressurization activity scheduled for Sunday is deferred to a later date in the mission.
Editor’s Note: Blog updated to correct the OTC burn time to 11:03 p.m. EDT.
The Artemis II crew of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, continue their workday aboard the Orion spacecraft.
With a demonstration underway of the Orion crew survival system spacesuit, the crew also will prepare for their lunar flyby set for Monday, April 6, including reviewing their final science targets, and getting ready for the final outbound trajectory correction burn.
The crew will enter the lunar sphere of gravitational influence at approximately 12:41 a.m. EDT April 6.
Spacesuit testing
The crew members are in the midst of testing their Orion Crew Survival System suits, performing leak checks, simulating seat entry, and assessing mobility and their ability to eat and drink. The suit protects astronauts during dynamic phases of flight and provides life support in the event of cabin depressurization and survival operations after splashdown.
Fine tuning lunar flight path
Following spacesuit evaluations, the crew will turn their attention to the planned outbound trajectory correction (OTC) burn, scheduled for 11:03 p.m. EDT. The maneuver will refine the Orion spacecraft’s path toward the Moon. Earlier in the mission, flight controllers cancelled the previous two planned trajectory correction burns, as Orion’s trajectory remained precise. Koch and Hansen will review procedures for the upcoming burn, with Hansen monitoring the spacecraft’s configuration and navigation data.
Crew receives final science targets
Early Sunday, mission control sent the crew the final list of lunar surface features the science team has assigned for observation and photography during the lunar flyby on April 6. Ahead of the flyby, the crew will work through final preparations and hold a conference with mission controllers to finalize lunar targets and techniques.
The 30 targets include the Orientale basin, a nearly 600-mile-wide crater that straddles the Moon’s near and far sides. Orientale will be fully illuminated and visible as Orion approaches the Moon. This 3.8-billion-year-old crater formed when a large object struck the lunar surface and retains clear evidence of that collision, including dramatic topography in its rings. The crew will study Orientale’s features up close and from multiple angles as they pass by.
Hertzsprung basin also is on the crew’s list of targets. Northwest of Orientale is a nearly 400-mile crater on the Moon’s far side. An older ringed basin, Hertzsprung offers a unique contrast to Orientale because its features have been degraded by subsequent impacts. The crew will compare the topography o …