After an excellent “Light from Earth,” here’s a close-up of the dark side of the Moon. The Orion capsule came within about 130 kilometers (81 miles) of the other side of our moon, NASA said on Twitter Monday. A first for an unmanned, habitable mission.
Due to a half-hour communications blackout, flight controllers in Houston weren’t sure if the engine burned out long before the capsule emerged from behind the Moon, 230,000 miles from Earth, the news agency reports. . Associated Press.
A 25 day mission
Orion’s speed reached more than 8,000 kilometers per hour when contact was resumed, before the capsule flew over the Sea of Tranquility, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in 1969, the AP also notes.
The capsule will continue its mission and venture up to 64,000 km behind the only natural satellite, a record for a habitable capsule.
Artemis 1 is a test flight that will go around the Moon without landing there and without an astronaut on board. The mission, which should last 25 days in total, must confirm that the vehicle is safe for a future crew.
This flight marks the beginning of the Artemis program, which aims to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon. The goal is to establish a lasting human presence there, in preparation for a trip to Mars.
Source: BFM TV
