Issued on: 26/11/2022 – 00:54
Washington (AFP) – NASA’s Orion spacecraft was placed into lunar orbit on Friday, officials said, as the long-delayed mission to the moon continued successfully.
A little more than a week after the spacecraft launched from Florida on its way to the moon, flight controllers “successfully performed a burn to put Orion into a far retrograde orbit,” the US space agency said on its website.
The spacecraft is due to take astronauts to the moon in the coming years – the first to set foot on its surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
This first test flight, without a crew on board, is intended to ensure that the vehicle is safe.
“The orbit is distant, as Orion will fly about 40,000 miles above the Moon,” NASA said.
While in lunar orbit, flight controllers will monitor key systems and perform inspections while in deep space, the agency said.
It will take Orion about a week to make half a circle around the moon. It will then exit orbit for a return trip home, according to NASA.
On Saturday, the craft is expected to travel up to 40,000 miles beyond the moon, a record for a manned capsule. The current record is held by the Apollo 13 spacecraft at 248,655 miles (400,171 km) from Earth.
It will then begin its journey back to Earth with a landing in the Pacific Ocean scheduled for December 11, after just over 25 days of flight.
The success of this mission will determine the future of the Artemis 2 mission, which will take astronauts around the Moon without landing, then Artemis 3, which will finally mark the return of humans to the lunar surface.
These missions are scheduled to take place in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
© 2022 AFP
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