As the Artemis 1 mission made its closest approach to the Moon, NASA’s Orion spacecraft sent back up-close images of the lunar body. According to a post by NASA, Orion’s optical navigation system took the black-and-white pictures on the sixth day of the mission. According to NASA, it captures images of the Earth and Moon at various phases and distances.
A crucial milestone in the project will be completed on Friday when Orion places the spacecraft into a high orbit around the moon
NASA’s post said that this was the first time that such close images of the Moon were snapped by a “human-rated vessel since Apollo – 80 mi (128 km) above the lunar surface. The Apollo program ended in 1975.” “Orion also passed over the landing spots from Apollo 11, 12, and 14 and is on its way toward a distant retrograde orbit, a high-altitude orbit that moves Orion in the opposite direction that the Moon travels around Earth,” it further said.
A crucial milestone in the project will be completed on Friday when Orion places the spacecraft into a high orbit around the moon. The spacecraft will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on December 11 after completing its tasks. Before sending people to the Moon in the future, Artemis I is an unmanned mission that will test NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft. In 2024, NASA will launch Artemis II, a manned mission to orbit the moon, if this mission succeeds.
Orion will perform a crucial mission maneuver on Friday
“Orion also passed over the landing spots from Apollo 11, 12, and 14 and is on its way toward a distant retrograde orbit, a high-altitude orbit that moves Orion in the opposite direction that the Moon travels around Earth,” it further said.
On Friday, the Orion will perform a crucial mission maneuver by placing the spacecraft into a high orbit around the moon. On December 11, the spacecraft will execute its tasks before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Before sending astronauts to the Moon in the future, NASA will use the unmanned Artemis I mission to test its Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. If this mission is a success, NASA will launch Artemis II, a human mission to orbit the moon, in 2024.