NASA’s Orion capsule entered an orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles around the moon on Friday as it neared the halfway point of its test flight.
The capsule and its three test dummies entered lunar orbit more than a week after the launch of the $4 billion demonstration that aims to pave the way for astronauts. It will remain in this wide but stable orbit for nearly a week, completing only half a revolution before returning home.
Read more: NASA’s new moon rocket explodes 50 years after Apollo program
Read more
-
NASA’s new moon rocket explodes 50 years after the Apollo program
As of Friday’s engine ignition, the capsule was 238,000 miles (380,000 kilometers) from Earth. It is expected to reach a maximum distance of nearly 270,000 miles (432,000 kilometers) in a few days. This will set a new distance record for a capsule designed to carry people one day.
Story continues below ad
“It’s a statistic, but it’s symbolic of what it represents,” Orion manager Jim Geffre said in a NASA interview earlier this week. “It’s about challenging ourselves to go further, stay longer and push the boundaries of what we’ve previously explored.”
trending now
trending now
8:28 The James Webb Space Telescope reveals a universe of sights and sounds
NASA considers this a dress rehearsal for the next moon flyby in 2024, with astronauts. An astronaut landing on the moon could follow as soon as 2025. Astronauts last visited the moon 50 years ago during Apollo 17.
Earlier in the week, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with the capsule for nearly an hour. At the time, the controllers were adjusting the communication link between Orion and the deep space network. Officials said the spacecraft remained healthy.
Story continues below ad
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science is supported by the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
© 2022 The Canadian Press