Orion arrives at Moon; flies over Apollo 11 landing site
What's the story
The Artemis 1 mission has successfully arrived at the Moon. The Orion capsule glided to 130km above the lunar surface at 7:57 am ET (6:27 pm IST) today. The space vehicle lost contact for a brief moment while making this maneuver. To recall, the Orion spacecraft and SLS (Space Launch System) rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 16.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The Orion capsule was launched into space via the SLS rocket, the most powerful rocket built by NASA. The capsule has already sent back a couple of pictures from space. On board are three mannequins, two of which are covered with over 5,600 sensors to monitor cosmic radiation and assess if the conditions would be favorable for astronauts.
Twitter Post
Orion is cruising at 7,251km/h
Mission Time: 5 days, 7 hrs, 10 min
— Orion Spacecraft (@NASA_Orion) November 21, 2022
Orion is 227,010 miles from Earth, 2,210 miles from the Moon, cruising at 4,506 miles per hour.
P: (-204634, -100366, -37390)
V: (4160, -1379, -1048)
O: 55º, 56.3º, 13.1º
What's this? https://t.co/voR4yGy2mg #TrackArtemis pic.twitter.com/IcE1o52o19
Progress
Orion made its closest approach at 6:27 pm today
The "outbound powered flyby" took place today i.e. November 21 at 5:15 am EST (3:45 pm IST). Orion made its closest approach to the Moon around 7:57 am EST (6:27 pm IST). Over the next couple of days, the European Service Module will insert Orion into the distant retrograde orbit where it will carry out a week-long testing of the spacecraft systems.
Mission timeline
It is set to break Apollo 13's record
On November 26, the Orion spacecraft will break Apollo 13 mission's record, which traveled 4,01,056km from the Earth. Two days later, the Orion will reach a distance of 4,30,000km. This is the longest distance that a spacecraft built for humans has ever traveled. It will then journey back to our planet and will splash down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.
Future plans
Astronauts will land on Moon by 2025
Orion has no lunar lander and hence it will not land on the surface of the Moon. The current mission is only to study the lunar orbit and carry out some experiments. By 2024, NASA will send astronauts to circle the Moon and by 2025, the space agency plans to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.