Follow Orion Creatively During NASA’s Artemis I Mission
Trajectory data from the Orion spacecraft’s first mission around the Moon will be available to the public through NASA’s Artemis Real-time Orbit Website, also known as AROW. AROW, available on NASA’s website and on the @NASA_Orion Twitter account, allows almost anyone with internet access to track Orion’s flight as it happens.
Orion will travel to the Moon and 40,000 miles beyond on Artemis I, its first integrated flight test with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Users can download trajectory data from the flight, called an ephemeris, from the AROW web page.
The ephemeris data can be used to track Orion with your own spaceflight software application or telescope. It can also be used to create a physics model, animation, visualization, tracking application, or other conceivable projects.
This data is generated by the Flight Dynamics Operations (FDO) group in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. FDO is responsible for trajectory operations of Orion, keeping track of where the spacecraft is and where it is going to be. FDO uses tracking data from the Deep Space Network and predictive models to constantly update Orion’s predicted trajectory, so the Artemis flight control team has the best trajectory estimate possible. An accurate trajectory is essential for achieving mission objectives, maintaining communications links, lighting, adjusting the trajectory, and more.
Links at the bottom of the AROW web article will have the most current posted ephemeris. The ephemeris is in the Consultive Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Orbital Ephemeris Message (OEM) standard — a text file containing a header, metadata, explanatory information, and ephemeris data, available in the .txt file format.
After the OEM header, Orion state vectors — data describing exactly where Orion is located in space, and how it is moving — in the Mean of J2000 (J2K) reference frame are listed at four-minute intervals until entry interface at the end of mission. During trajectory maneuvers, the state vectors are reported in two-second intervals. Each state vector lists the time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC); position X, Y, and Z in km; and velocity X, Y, and Z in km/s.
OEMs will be publicly available after Orion separates from the SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage that will give the spacecraft the big in-space push needed to fly beyond the Moon. Entry data will also be available for Orion’s return to Earth.
Follow @NASA_Orion on Twitter for AROW mission updates during Artemis I. Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Track Orion during Artemis I at:
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/trackartemis/
View the latest ephemeris at:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/track-nasa-s-artemis-i-mission-in-real-time
Erika Peters
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
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I'm at my mom's for a bit and typically don't answer her home phone, however the same number called twice in a row so I was concerned and picked it up. I immediately heard a call center and 'is this (moms name)? So I said no it is not thank you very much and hung up.
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The lady legit went 'oh my goodness, so rude' and hung up on me and I'm hilariously bothered by this when I should just be laughing?
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Enjoy your meal and please leave a tip if you wish! :)
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How to Use Data From NASA’s AROW Tweets
Follow NASA’s Orion spacecraft on its first mission around the Moon with the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW). AROW visualizes data collected by sensors on Orion and provides periodic real-time data during NASA’s Artemis I mission. AROW is available on NASA’s website and on the @NASA_Orion Twitter account.
AROW will periodically tweet a set of Orion’s state vectors — data that describes precisely where Orion is located in space and how it moves — from Orion’s official twitter account once Orion is flying on its own.
You can use the information shared in AROW Twitter updates, explained below, to create a physics model, animation, visualization, tracking app, or anything imaginable. Here are some ideas for getting started:
Use the fundamental statistics to track or graph Orion’s distance from Earth or the Moon; its total distance traveled, closest lunar approach, farthest distance from Earth, etc.
Use the applied statistics to track or graph Orion’s acceleration due to gravity at a given time, using the position of Earth and Moon or comparing Orion's trajectory to the Apollo missions.
Create an animation or visualization of the mission to scale — maybe a time-lapsed view from inside the crew module looking out the window.
Based on data, recreate the mission in a space flight simulation video game platform with realistic orbits and maneuvers.
The data shared in AROW tweets are Orion’s state vectors, defined within the Earth-centered inertial coordinate frame J2000.
The P (position) coordinates provided represent Orion’s location on three planes:
Position (miles):
x=-237851, y=8725, z=23584
The x–y plane matches the equatorial plane of Earth.
The x-axis is permanently fixed in a direction relative to the celestial sphere, which does not rotate as Earth does.
The z-axis lies at a 90° angle to the equatorial plane and extends through the North Pole.
The y-axis is found by rotating the x-axis by 90° east around the z-axis.
To find a value for Orion’s distance from Earth, the Pythagorean theorem () can be used.
The three V (velocity) vectors represent Orion’s rate of change, corresponding with the position coordinates above:
Velocity (miles/hour):
x=1000, y=1251, z=300
As with position, the Pythagorean theorem can be used to find a value for Orion’s speed.
Also provided are O (orientation) vectors that describe the way Orion is pointing:
Orientation:
x=360.0°, y=0.0°, z=177.2°
Orion’s orientation is represented as three rotations measured in degrees around each of the axes laid out above.
Follow @NASA_Orion on Twitter for AROW mission updates during Artemis I, the first integrated test of the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.
Find more information about state vectors at:
https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/466741main_AP_ST_Calc_ShuttleGNC.pdf
Track Orion during Artemis I at:
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/trackartemis/
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