The Artemis I mission finally launched last week after months of delay due to weather conditions and technical problems. Now, NASA's Orion spacecraft has reached its destination as it performed a flyby 130km (80 miles) above the lunar surface.
As Universe Today notes, the spacecraft is now engaging in the orbit pattern until it returns to Earth in early December. Although it was out of contact for 34 minutes during its maneuver that began at 12:44 GMT on the Moon's far side, the signal immediately returned and the Orion spacecraft sent images to Earth.
The Earth is seen setting from the far side of the Moon just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this video taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The spacecraft was preparing for the Outbound Powered Flyby maneuver which would bring it within 80 miles of the lunar surface, the closest approach of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, before moving into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence Sunday, Nov. 20, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft.
Flight Day Six: Artemis I Mission Exceeding Expectations.
The first of three maneuvers the Orion spacecraft performed provided an opportunity to fire all three thruster types, according to NASA. The first one used the large orbital maneuvering system, while the second used the small reaction control system thrusters, and the third used the medium auxiliary engines.
The space agency further reports that the Orion spacecraft completed its fourth trajectory correction on its sixth day into the Artemis I mission using the auxiliary engines at 1:44 CST. It conducted two more maneuvers to enter the distant retrograde orbit around the Moon.
At 6:44 am, the spacecraft completed the outbound powered flyby, passing about 130km (80 miles) above the lunar surface at 6:57 am. The spacecraft increased its speed from 2,128 mph to 5,102 mph after the outbound flyby burn. It was also able to pass by the landing sites of previous lunar missions.
Orion was 1,400 miles above the Apollo 11 landing site at Tranquility Base at 7:37 am, then at 6,000 miles above Apollo 14's landing site, and about 7,700 miles in altitude over the Apollo 12 site.
Mike Sarafin, Artemis 1 mission manager, says that since the launch of the Artemis I mission, it has so far "exceeded expectations." NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville can be seen cheering on a livestream as the mission continues to make history. "This is one of those days that you've been thinking about and dreaming about for a long, long time," Scoville said.
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Orion's Epic Scale of Close Approach to the Moon
As the Orion spacecraft performs its flyby above the Moon, it took some incredible photos that were shared on Twitter, showing the epic scale of the close approach.
On Friday, NASA estimates that the spacecraft will enter a distant retrograde orbit beyond the moon with the second maneuver dubbed as the distant retrograde orbit insertion burn.
The space agency explained that "distant" refers to the spacecraft flying at a high altitude from the lunar surface, while the word "retrograde" pertains to the Orion spacecraft traveling in the opposite direction the Moon travels around Earth. The orbit provides a highly stable orbit while using little fuel to stay for an extended trip in outer space, putting Orion's systems to test in an extreme environment.
The whole Artemis I mission will have the spacecraft travel about 57,287 miles beyond the Moon to break a record as the farthest point ever reached by humans on November 25, even farther than Apollo 14's distance traveled.
Follow Orion's progress, and track it on NASA's Artemis Real-Time Orbit Website (AROW) and watch live footage from the spacecraft as it orbits around the Moon.
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Check out more news and information on Artemis Program in Science Times.