a bumpy ride after a series of delays due to technical glitches and bad weather. but nasa says once its mega rocket got off the ground, it s been smooth saling. we got to witness the world s most powerful rocket take the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it, and it was quite a sight. reporter: after 3 1/2 weeks in space, filled with engine burns, lunar 30-byes, and stunning views of the earth and the moon, nasa s orion spacecraft is almost home. but before its splashdown, it needs to pass a critical test. in one of the most nail-biting types of the re-entry process, the orion capsule will separate from its service mod duel, then complete a skip maneuver off the edge of the earth s atmosphere, which will bring it closer to its landing site and cut down on the g-forces future astronauts will have to endure.
the orion capsule will separate from its service module then complete a skip maneuver off the edge of the earth s atmosphere which will bring it closer to its landing site and cut down on the g forces that future astronauts will have to endure. after that all eyes are on the heat shield as orion blazes back to earth at temperatures twice as hot as molten lava. nasa says the heat shield has been tested more than 1,000 times and making sure it can take the heat is one of the primary goals of this mission. from the outset the uncrewed artemis i mission has been a dry run to make sure the spacecraft is safe enough for astronauts to fly on board. we are stressing it and testing it in ways that we will not do to a rocket that has a human crew on it. reporter: if artemis i is a success it will be followed by
reporter: the lead up to the artemis i launch might have been a bumpy ride after a series of delays due to technical glitches and bad weather, but nasa says once it s mega rocket got off the ground it s been smooth sailing. we got to witness the world s most powerful rocket take the earth by its edges and shake the wicket out of it and it was quite a sight. reporter: after three and a half weeks in space filled with engine burns, lunar fly-bys and stunning views of the earth and the moon, nasa s orion spacecraft is almost home. but before it splashed down it needs to pass a critical test. in one of the most nail biting times of the re-entry process, the orion capsule will separate from its service module, then complete a skip maneuver off the edge of the earth s atmosphere which will bring it closer to its landing site and cut don on the g forces that future astronauts will have to endure.