NASA's Artemis I Orion spacecraft completed its outbound powered flyby burn around the moon on Monday morning.
on the far side of the moon on Monday, bringing it just 81 miles above the surface at 7:57 a.m. ET, a move that hasn't been attempted by a human-rated spacecraft since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The outbound powered flyby was the result of one of four positioning burns of Orion's Orbital Maneuvering System engine planned during the 26-day Artemis I mission to the moon and back. The mission, composed of the crew and its three wired-up dummies, represents a huge milestone since NASA’s Apollo program 50 years ago. The $4.1 billion test flight Orion has spent about five days flying from Earth outbound to the moon.
During a half-hour communication blackout, flight controllers in Houston couldn't confirm whether the critical engine firing went well, until the capsule emerged from behind the moon. Orion then soared above Tranquility Base, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on July 20, 1969.“Our pale blue dot and its 8 billion human inhabitants now coming into view,” said Mission Control commentator Sandra Jones.
Astronauts are set to take Orion around the moon by as early as 2024, and a lunar landing will be attempted in 2025 with SpaceX's Starship because Orion has no lunar lander.NASA launches its mega Artemis I moon rocket 50 years after Apollo programAfter several scrubbed and delayed attempts, NASA launched Artemis I, bringing the US closer to a moon landing for the first time in 50 years.
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NASA 'giddy' over amazing moon views from Artemis 1 Orion spacecraftBrett is a science and technology journalist who is curious about emerging concepts in spaceflight and aerospace, alternative launch concepts, anti-satellite technologies, and uncrewed systems. Brett's work has appeared on The War Zone at TheDrive.com, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery, and more. Brett has English degrees from Clemson University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his free time, Brett is a working musician, a hobbyist electronics engineer and cosplayer, an avid LEGO fan, and enjoys hiking and camping throughout the Appalachian Mountains with his wife and two children.
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