Amazing image of crescent Earth rising over the moon captured by Orion

The Orion capsule has made its closest move above the floor of the moon and begun its journey again to Earth, capturing astonishing views of our planet on the way in which

By Leah Crane

NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which launched atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on 16 November, is heading house. The capsule accomplished its closest move by the moon on 5 December, hurtling across the moon’s far facet and lighting up its thrusters to start the journey again to Earth.

The shut move took the capsule simply 127 kilometres above the floor of the far facet of the moon – the facet we by no means see from Earth as a result of size of the moon’s orbit being tightly locked with the timing of its rotation. As Orion handed again into view of Earth, it took photographs of the crescent planet rising above the moon’s cratered floor.

If all goes nicely, Orion will return to Earth on 11 December, splashing down within the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. This will probably be one in every of probably the most difficult components of the mission – Orion’s warmth defend will probably be subjected to temperatures of virtually 2800°C because it plunges into Earth’s environment. Making certain the warmth defend holds up throughout that infernal descent is without doubt one of the key targets of this check flight.

If Orion proves protected, the subsequent step would be the Artemis II mission, deliberate for 2024, through which a capsule will carry astronauts across the moon and again house. Then, in 2025, a capsule is scheduled to take astronauts again to the floor of the moon for the primary time since Apollo 17 in 1972. NASA officers hope that this mission, referred to as Artemis III, will mark the start of a sustained human presence on the lunar floor.

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