NASA’s Artemis 1 mission faces power conditioning issue ahead of lunar fly-by

NASA's Artemis 1 mission's Orion spacecraft experienced issues with its power conditioning distribution unit ahead of a planned lunar fly-by that will take the spacecraft about 127 kilometres above the Moon's surface.

Ahead of Orion's close lunar fly-by, a camera attached to the spaceship's solar arrays captures the Earth. (Image credit: NASA)

NASA’s Orion spacecraft performed its second required trajectory correction burn at 10.13 PM IST on Sunday, December 4. But shortly after connecting with the Deep Space Network’s Canberra ground station at 12.11 AM IST on Monday, the spacecraft encountered an issue with its power conditioning distribution unit (PCDU).

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Four of the latching current limiters on the PCDU, which are responsible for downstream power, were switched off. According to NASA, these switches connect to the propulsion and heater subsystems. The space agency confirmed that Orion’s systems were healthy and successfully repowered downstream components. This issue did not cause power interruptions for any critical systems and NASA teams did not detect any effects on the spacecraft’s navigation and communication systems.

Lunar fly-by

Orion will make its closest approach to the Moon on Monday, December 5, when it will fly about 127 kilometres above the lunar surface. At 10.13 PM on the same day, it will perform a powered return flyby for about 3 minutes and 27 seconds. This will change the speed of Orion by about 1,000 kilometres per second. This manoeuvre will also be the largest of the mission. After this, only small trajectory corrections remain till the spacecraft returns back to Earth.

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NASA will stream live coverage of the lunar flyby starting at 7.30 PM IST on December 5. You can watch it on NASA TV, NASA’s website and through the YouTube link below.

Preparation for Orion’s return

Meanwhile, teams from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and the US Navy completed their final training day at sea, where they used a mock capsule in the water so that divers could practice open-water recovery procedures. Orion is scheduled to splash down in the pacific ocean on Sunday, December 11.