space. The Orion spacecraft is in orbit around the Moon

Orion ship NASA The US space agency moved into far lunar orbit on Friday, the 10th day of the Artemis 1 mission.

“During this lunar orbit, flight controllers will monitor critical (Orion) systems and perform checks related to the deep space environment,” the agency said in a blog post.

Thematic moon

This new capsule, which is supposed to take astronauts to the moon in the coming years – the first to set foot on its surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972 – is currently traveling more than 64,000 km from the moon.

At this distance, it would take no less than six days to cover half a lunar orbit, before starting the journey back to Earth.
This first test flight of the Orion spacecraft, without a crew on board, should be used to ensure the safety of the vehicle.

Landing on December 11th

The landing in the Pacific Ocean is scheduled for December 11, just over 25 days into the flight.

The success of this mission depends on the future of Artemis 2, which will take astronauts around the moon without landing, and then Artemis 3, which will finally determine the return of humans to the lunar surface. These missions are scheduled to officially take place in 2024 and 2025, respectively.