The Orion capsule, launched last week during the Artemis I mission, has captured beautiful images of the moon. NASA is now sharing it. The capsule is expected to return to Earth within two weeks.
The Orion capsule was hovering just 80 miles above the moon’s surface when it captured the new images. The capsule was able to capture images of the far side of the moon a few days ago and now NASA is sharing them with the world. Orion will no longer get any closer to the moon during this mission.
Orion was launched on November 16 on the world’s most powerful SLS launcher and will complete a 26-day flight around the moon. Orion has now completed the first leg of his journey. On Friday, November 25, the engines will start to complete a second part of the mission. The capsule will then be sent to the farthest point in its orbit around the moon and be 432,000 kilometers from Earth.
Photo: ZUMA Press
On December 11, Orion is expected to return to Earth again and fall into the sea off the coast of California. Orion’s flight is the first part of the Artemis mission, a collaboration between NASA and ESA, which aims to return people to the moon. The Orion capsule is unmanned, NASA sent only a mannequin. NASA wants to send a manned flight to the moon in 2024 at the earliest, but it won’t land there. A few years later, during Artemis III, astronauts are supposed to set foot on the lunar surface again.
