Technology
NASA's Orion capsule captures amazing close-up pictures of the moon
During its time in space, Orion passed behind the moon and captured images of the moon’s far side, which has never been seen from Earth
November 25, 2022 6:35pm
Updated: November 28, 2022 9:38am
The National Air and Space Agency’s (NASA) Orion capsule has taken incredible close-up pictures of the moon after flying just 130 kilometers above its surface.
Orion was launched into space on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on November 16. In this test flight, dubbed the Artemis I mission, Orion will orbit around the moon before returning to Earth on December 11.
Spacecraft get selfies, too.
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) November 19, 2022
While teams performed a checkout on the @NASA_Orion spacecraft, these images were captured of the outside of the vehicle.
The #Artemis I mission is just a couple days from reaching the Moon: https://t.co/7Y3o8TGU3C pic.twitter.com/1ezU0m4EQU
During its time in space, Orion passed behind the moon and captured images of the moon’s far side, which has never been seen from Earth. Orion passed by the moon some 130 kilometers away, the closest approach it will make in its entire mission.
“Today was a terrific day,” Howard Hu, NASA’s Orion program manager, said at a press briefing.
Anyone order more Moon photos from @NASA_Orion?
— Lockheed Martin Space (@LMSpace) November 24, 2022
The details in these images from Orion’s Optical Navigation camera are truly extraordinary! 🌖 pic.twitter.com/lC6weDdNrn
With its close flyby over, the capsule will continue flying further away from the moon until it reaches 92,000 kilometers away from the lunar service, known as retrograde orbit. For six days, Orion will orbit around the moon at that distance, which allows it to use less fuel.
During those six days, Orion is expected to break the record for the largest distance traveled from Earth by a spaceship designed for humans—Apollo 13 had set the record in 1970 with 400,000 kilometers.
Earthset. 🌎@NASA_Orion captured this shot of Earth “setting” while the spacecraft passed close to the Moon. Nearly 270,000 miles (430,000 km) away, #Artemis I will soon surpass Apollo 13’s record-setting distance from Earth in a spacecraft designed to carry astronauts. pic.twitter.com/lvDS7nGPRo
— NASA (@NASA) November 21, 2022
“The mission continues to proceed as we had planned, and the ground systems, our operations teams, and the Orion spacecraft continue to exceed expectations,” said Artemis I mission manager Mike Serafin in a 21 November press conference.
If Orion succeeds at its mission, it will be used to carry humans to the moon in 2024 for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.
