Last significant step before lunar orbit: On its journey to a record-breaking lunar orbit, NASA’s Orion spacecraft arrived at the moon on Monday, whirling around the rear side and passing within 80 miles (128 km) of the surface.
The crew capsule and its three test dummies were on the far side of the moon when the close approach took place. Flight controllers in Houston could not learn whether the crucial engine firing went smoothly until the spacecraft emerged from behind the moon, more than 232,000 miles (375,000 km) from Earth, as a result of the half-hour contact blackout.
The moon became larger in the video that was transmitted earlier that morning as the spacecraft travelled its final few thousand miles after taking out last Wednesday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center atop the most potent rocket that NASA has ever produced.
Flight director Zeb Scoville stated, “This is one of those days that you’ve been dreaming about and talking about for a long, long time.”
Since NASA’s Apollo programme 50 years ago, no spacecraft has reached the moon. This marks a significant accomplishment for the $4.1 billion test flight that started last Wednesday. The first three lunar landings by humanity, Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 14, were all passed by Orion on its flight path.
Orion had to slingshot around the moon in order to gain enough speed to enter the wide, uneven lunar orbit. As the capsule swung out from behind the moon, onboard cameras transmitted back a picture of Earth — a blue dot surrounded by blackness. If everything goes according to plan, the capsule will be in that orbit by Friday after another engine firing.
The record for the greatest distance travelled by an astronaut-designed spacecraft, set by Apollo 13 in 1970 at almost 250,000 miles (400,000 km), will be broken by Orion the following weekend. And it will continue to go, getting up to 270,000 miles from Earth at its farthest next Monday (433,000 km).
Before returning to Earth, the capsule will spend almost a week in lunar orbit. A Pacific splashdown is planned for Dec 11.
Orion lacks a lunar lander; a touchdown won’t occur until NASA astronauts use SpaceX’s Starship to try a lunar landing in 2025. But as early as 2024, astronauts will board the Orion spacecraft for a trip around the moon.
Managers at NASA were thrilled with the mission’s progress. In its premiere, the Space Launch System rocket behaved remarkably well, officials told reporters late last week.
However, the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center sustained more damage than anticipated from the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket. The 8.8 million pounds (4 million kg) of liftoff thrust produced such a powerful force that it tore the elevator’s blast doors off.
Orion lacks a lunar lander; a touchdown won’t occur until NASA astronauts use SpaceX’s Starship to try a lunar landing in 2025. Before that, as early as 2024 will see astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for a trip around the moon.
Managers at NASA were thrilled with the mission’s progress. In its premiere, the Space Launch System rocket behaved remarkably well, officials told reporters late last week.
At the Kennedy Space Center launch pad, the 322-foot rocket did more harm than anticipated. The blast doors of the elevator were torn off by the 8.8 million pounds of liftoff thrust’s tremendous energy.
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