This NASA-Designed Tool Will Allow You to Track Its Artemis 1 Mission in Real Time

NASA has earlier announced its plans to commence with the Artemis 1 mission on August 29th. However, the agency wants every viewer to track and enjoy every part of this mission starting from the launch to the end of the mission. To do this, NASA built an online tool that will enable viewers to track the progress of the Orion Spacecraft as it commences its journey to the moon on August 29th and covers 40,000 miles beyond the moon before making its way back to Earth. What did NASA hope to achieve from this tracking system? How can you use this tool to track the Artemis 1 spacecraft? Continue reading to find out.

What NASA plans to Achieve with its Newly designed tools to track the Artemis 1 mission

As NASA prepares for the Artemis 1 Mission, the agency revealed a fascinating way the public can track the progress of its Artemis 1 mission. This online tool was released on August 19th, just 10 days before the Artemis 1 mission commenced. NASA named this tool The Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) and the agency plans to provide data, imagery, and all fascinating news about the Orion Spacecraft through this platform.

Viewers can also monitor where the Orion is currently located and track its distance from Earth to the moon and the 40,000 miles beyond the moon which the spacecraft will also cover. The website will enable you to study the distance from Earth to the moon, the mission duration of the Artemis 1 spacecraft, and more.

While describing the power of the newly built online tool, the Orion programmer and creator of AROW, Seth Lambert revealed, “This is a really powerful way to engage with the mission and understand the scope of what NASA is trying to accomplish with Artemis I.” NASA plans to use the AROW to display data gathered by the sensors attached to the Orion Spacecraft.

This set of data will be transmitted to the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as the spacecraft makes its way into deep space. The mission is planned to last for six weeks. During this period, you can easily use this tool to see the wonders performed by the Orion Spacecraft in deep space.

‘It will provide periodic real-time data beginning about one minute after liftoff through separation of the SLS rocket’s Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage approximately two hours into the flight.

 NASA official also stated that “Once Orion is flying on its own, AROW will provide constant real-time information.” This implies that you will never miss out on tracking the progress of the Orion Spacecraft in real-time.

Artemis 1 Rocket Roll Out

NASA has already rolled out the Orion Spacecraft atop the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The agency is looking forward to commencing with the Artemis 1 mission between 08:33 ET and 10:33 ET (13:33 BST and 15:33 BST) on August 29. During the mission, the Orion Spacecraft will cover the 250,000 miles between the Earth and the moon.

NASA intends to move the spacecraft about 62 miles closer to the lunar system. The agency has revealed that the Orion spacecraft will not dock to any space station and will stay longer on the lunar orbit than any other manned vehicle around the moon. Keep in mind that the Artemis 1 mission is specifically designed to prove that the SLS rocket and the Orion Capsule can safely carry astronauts to the moon. After the success of Artemis 1, NASA will commence with its Artemis II mission in 2024 and the Artemis III the following year.

 How can you use this tool to track the Artemis 1 spacecraft?

To get started using this tool, you have to visit the website. Once you visit the AROW platform, you will be shown how the Artemis 1 Mission is going in real-time. The display will show you the mission view, mission Elapsed time, the velocity of the spacecraft, distance from earth, and distance to the moon.

The mission view will show you the mission progress from start to finish. Once the mission commences, the mission view indicator will begin to move showing you how long it takes for the mission to be completed.

The mission Elapsed time will show you the amount of time recorded since the Orion Spacecraft was launched. You will use this indicator to tell how long the spacecraft has covered for the Artemis 1 mission.

The velocity indicator tells you the speed at which the spacecraft is traveling from Earth to the moon.

Distance from Earth indicator will tell you how far away the spacecraft has covered from the earth. You can use this indicator to estimate how long it will take the Orion Spacecraft to reach the moon.

Distance to Moon indicator will show you how many miles are remaining for the Orion Spacecraft to safely reach the moon

Conclusion

This newly designed online tool will be beneficial to every space lover hoping to get the best out of the Artemis 1 Mission. As the agency looks forward to launching the Artemis 1 mission, we wish NASA the best of luck and hope for the best from this mission. What do you think about this powerful online tool?