On Monday, the uncrewed Orion capsule of NASA’s Artemis I mission came within 80 miles (130 kilometers) of the lunar surface. This was the closest a spacecraft designed to carry humans has come to the moon since Apollo 17 did so 50 years ago.
According to the US space agency’s website, the capsule’s lunar flyby on the return leg of its initial mission occurred a week after Orion reached its farthest point in space, nearly 270,000 miles from Earth, midway through its 25-day mission.
During a “powered flyby burn” on Monday, Orion fired its thrusters to alter the vehicle’s velocity and set it on course for its return to Earth. Orion was about 79 miles above the lunar surface.
.@NASA_Orion is only 687 miles above the Moon. #Artemis pic.twitter.com/a8nIvNX26U
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) December 5, 2022
NASA said the 3-1/2-minute consumption would stamp the last significant spaceflight move for Orion before it was because of drop into the ocean and sprinkle down on Dec. 11.
We've completed our return powered flyby burn and are heading home! pic.twitter.com/awelzovlRP
— Orion Spacecraft (@NASA_Orion) December 5, 2022
The final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, which brought Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt to the lunar surface 50 years ago this month, was the last time a spacecraft designed for human travel got as close to the moon as Orion did. From 1969 to 1972, they were the last of 12 NASA astronauts to walk on the moon. They participated in six Apollo missions.
On the thirteenth day of its mission, Orion flew farther than any other “crew-class” spacecraft, despite the fact that it does not contain any astronauts but rather a simulated crew of three mannequins. It descended to a distance of 268,563 miles from Earth, nearly 20,000 miles further than the previous record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970 when the spacecraft failed mechanically and was forced to return to Earth after a near-catastrophic failure.
Artemis, Apollo’s successor program, launched last month with the much-delayed and eagerly awaited launch of Orion. Artemis aims to bring astronauts back to the lunar surface within a decade and establish a sustainable base there as a stepping stone for human exploration of Mars in the future.
A crewed Artemis II mission to the moon and back could take place as early as 2024 if the mission is successful. Within a few years, the first crewed lunar landing with Artemis III would take place. It is anticipated that it will take at least another ten and a half years to send astronauts to Mars.
Debbie Korth, deputy manager for NASA’s Orion program, told reporters at a news briefing on Monday, “We couldn’t be more pleased about how the spacecraft has been performing really beyond all our expectations.”
Orion was launched into space on top of NASA’s massive, next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on November 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
The SLS rocket and Orion capsule, which Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. built for NASA under contract, made their first flight on this mission.
The primary objective of Orion’s first flight is to evaluate the heat shield’s durability as it re-enters the atmosphere of Earth at 24,500 miles per hour, which is significantly faster than the speed of spacecraft returning from the International Space Station
