The Orion capsule of Artemis 1 “buzzed” the moon early on Monday as it reached its closest approach to the lunar surface during the 25-day space voyage, marking another significant milestone on NASA’s first crew-capable moon mission in 50 years.
On Monday, NASA’s Artemis I Orion spacecraft completed a powered flyby of the moon’s far side, bringing it just 81 miles above the surface at 7:57 a.m. ET, the closest human-rated spacecraft has come to the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
On the 26-day Artemis I mission to the moon and back, Orion’s Orbital Maneuvering System engine performed four positioning burns during the outbound powered flyby.
As the first crewed mission to orbit the Earth since the Apollo program 50 years ago, the mission, along with three wired-up dummies, represents a huge milestone for NASA. The $4.1 billion test flight began Wednesday.
Orion has been traveling to the moon from Earth for nearly five days. The outbound powered flyby was required to get Orion “near enough to the lunar surface to leverage the moon’s gravitational force and swing the spacecraft around the moon toward entry into distant retrograde orbit,” according to NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones during Monday’s Livestream.
Flight controllers in Houston were unable to determine whether the crucial engine firing went smoothly during a 30-minute communication blackout until the spacecraft came out from behind the moon. Then, Orion soared above Tranquility Base, the site of July 20, 1969, landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
The cameras in the capsule returned a picture of the planet.
Mission Control commentator Sandra Jones remarked, “Our pale blue dot and its 8 billion inhabitants are now coming into view.”
Orion is expected to break yet another NASA milestone.
This weekend, NASA plans to attempt to surpass the 250,000-mile record for a spacecraft built for astronauts set by Apollo 13 in 1970. Orion will spend nearly a week in lunar orbit and will be about 270,000 miles away from Earth on Monday.
On December 11, the spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth by splashing down in the Pacific.
When will the next moon landing attempt take place?
By 2024, astronauts are expected to fly Orion around the moon, and because Orion lacks a lunar lander, a lunar landing attempt will be made in 2025 using SpaceX’s Starship.
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