Orion spacecraft approach to lunar orbital insertion.
NASA finally launched its new SLS lunar megaloon rocket and Orion spacecraft on Nov. 16 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a six-week mission around the Moon and back to Earth. NASA had to delay the mission’s departure four times, twice for technical reasons and twice due to weather.
Orion spacecraft approach to lunar orbital insertion.
During this flight, the Orion spacecraft will fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. It will travel more than 450,000 kilometers from Earth, thousands of kilometers beyond the Moon, and will remain in space longer than any astronaut spacecraft without docking to a space station and return to Earth faster and hotter than ever before.
Orion spacecraft approach to lunar orbital insertion.
Now, the Orion spacecraft of NASA’s Artemis I mission has completed its first flyby of the Moon. After making this successful trip, it regained contact with Earth, first communicating with the ground station in Madrid, in Robledo de Chavela.
Orion spacecraft approach to lunar orbital insertion.
The spacecraft will remain in that orbit for approximately six days to collect data and allow mission controllers to evaluate the spacecraft’s performance. During this period, Orion will travel in a retrograde direction around the Moon from the direction the Moon travels around the Earth.
Orion spacecraft approach to lunar orbital insertion.
Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager, said that, for now, «in the middle of the operation,» when the Orion is «in perfect condition» on stage 9 of 17 comprising the space trip back to Earth, «it is exceeding expectations» and the capsule is showing great performance.
Orion spacecraft approach to lunar orbital insertion.
More than 430,000 kilometers away from Earth, the Orion is traveling at 8,200 km/hour and will soon surpass the record distance of Apollo 13, as after completing the flyby of the lunar surface it will travel some 64,000 kilometers beyond the other side of the satellite.
