Jacobs (NYSE:J) congratulates NASA on the successful completion of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission to orbit the moon, following the safe splashdown of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean.
Powered by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the uncrewed test flight sent Orion on a 1.4-million-mile journey around the moon, traveling further than any space vehicle capable of safely transporting humans.
Jacobs has supported NASA from start to finish on this historic mission, including as part of the team that recovered Orion from the ocean. Artemis I is the first test flight in a planned series of increasingly complex missions under Artemis, NASA’s deep space human exploration endeavor, which aims to land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon and establish a long-term human future in deep space.
“NASA’s Artemis I mission has exceeded expectations. With Orion’s successful journey and safe return to earth, this historic mission has paved the way for a new era of scientific discovery and human exploration of deep space,” said Jacobs EVP and President Critical Mission Solutions Steve Arnette. “Jacobs teams across multiple NASA centers, contracts and programs are committed to providing innovative solutions and technologies in support of NASA’s quest to advance science and inspire the next generation of space exploration through future Artemis missions.”
In addition to Orion recovery operations, Jacobs successfully executed several key roles in ensuring the safe return of the spacecraft.
The Jacobs team at Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Thermal Protection Systems Facility helped develop and manufacture thermal protection components to guard Orion from the intense temperature of re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. This work includes production of numerous qualification test articles for arc jet, radiant, impact resistance and mechanical properties. Upon successful completion of all qualification efforts, more than a thousand flight tiles and corresponding gap fillers were produced for both the top backshell and bottom heatshield of the Orion capsule.
At Johnson Space Center (JSC), a NASA and Jacobs team developed the trajectory plan for the orbital flight path of Artemis I, which took Orion 268,563 miles from Earth and 40,000 nautical miles beyond the moon – further out in space than any other human-rated capsule in history. Jacobs engineers at JSC also developed and tested the critical Orion re-entry parachute system that slowed down the capsule from an atmospheric re-entry speed of approximately 25,500 mph to 20 mph for splashdown. Jacobs also worked across five NASA centers to help develop and successfully test the reliability of the Orion launch abort system, which is designed to protect the crew in future missions.
Jacobs also supports the SLS and Orion development at multiple NASA centers. That work includes extensive verification and validation testing of Artemis I flight components. At Marshall Space Flight Center, Jacobs supported NASA in completing the SLS rocket’s structural testing, a nearly three-year campaign that qualified the structural design of multiple hardware elements for the rocket.
As the prime contractor at KSC for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program, Jacobs is responsible for receiving all SLS and Orion flight hardware, assembling and integrating all the components, developing the launch control software, conducting final test and checkout, transporting the vehicle to the pad, supporting the launch and helping conclude the mission with the recovery of Orion.
As NASA’s largest services contractor, Jacobs is a provider and integrator of full lifecycle aerospace capabilities, including design and construction; base, mission and launch operations; sustaining capital maintenance; secure and intelligent asset management; and development, modification and testing processes for fixed assets supporting national government, military, defense and NASA, as well as commercial space companies.
