From Yuma to space, Artemis ll testing in Yuma

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - “When the Orions Capsule is reentering the earths atmosphere it’s going something like 20,000 miles per hour, now to be slowed down quite a bit by friction as it reenters earths atmosphere, but for it’s final decent when it touches down in the ocean the parachutes need to decelerate that capsule by 20 miles per hour," says Mark Schauer, Yuma Proving Ground Public Affairs Officer.

And although their journey is not over, their hard work has paid off.

Victor Glover, Artemis ll Pilot says, “thank you to all of you for allowing us this immense privilege to be on this journey together, it’s quite amazing and as we go on this journey together thinking about the nasa mission to explore the unknown and air and space, to innovate for the benefit of humanity and to inspire the world through discovery, and as you’ve gone along on this journey with us, hopefully we’re doing just those things.”

And with YPG testing they are able to do those things and get home safely.

When people think of space travel they think of the extreme speeds astronauts have to travel to get to space, but slowing down the spacecraft is just as important for the astronauts.

“The United States hasn’t sent folks in the vicinity of the moon since the early 1970’s, now thanks in part to testing done at Yuma Proving Ground the United States and Canada has folks flying around the moon and theres man missions to the moon scheduled," says Mark Schauer.

Artemis ll is the first crewed flight to the moon since 1972.

Between 2011 and 2018 the parachutes in the Orion Space Capsule that will bring the astronaunts back safely underwent developmental testing at YPG.

The Artemis mission’s pilot, Victor Glover, actually was able to witness multiple developmental tests at the proving ground.

“The Orion Capsule is where the astronauts are during the mission, so during the developmental testing of the parachutes for it we used a mock capsule, that was almost lifesize to conduct all of the test parachute drops," explains Schauer.

Safely landing under the extreme conditions a spacecraft experiences on its mission to and from space is a tremendous undertaking, and a prime example of why YPG plays such in important role in developmental testing for nasa.