The Orion capsule made its closest pass over the Moon’s surface and is now on its way home to Earth. The vehicle, which was launched into space with a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on November 16 as part of the Artemis 1 mission and captured astonishing images of the Moon, has now started its return journey to Earth. However, the ‘Crescent Earth’ image he captured attracted a lot of attention. He shared that image on his official NASA account. Here are the details…
BREATHTAKING IMAGE!
The image captured by the Orion spacecraft looks like something out of a science fiction movie. In this image, Earth is seen as a crescent beyond the Moon.
Sharing this image on its official account, NASA said, “You can see the Earth from afar. This is us.”
We have retrieved signal with @NASA_Orion after an expected loss of signal when the spacecraft flew directly behind the Moon.
You can see Earth in the distance. That’s us. #Artemis https://t.co/gOdqk9dqV1 pic.twitter.com/I19mpVgFWK
— NASA (@NASA) December 5, 2022
ORION IS GOING HOME
According to the BBC’s report, Orion fired a large engine near the Moon on Monday. This was the last major powered maneuver for the next-generation crew ship, which has so far been a highly successful flight. The vehicle is expected to land in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, December 11.
The smooth rotation around the Moon over the weekend will allow the astronauts to proceed to Orion for their next mission in late 2024.
But this first flight was about testing systems while the astronauts were away.
The next mission, Artemis-2, will be trialled with astronauts. In Artemis 3, humans will re-land on the Moon’s surface years later. Thus, humanity will have gone to the Moon again.
One day in the solar system: Here are a few views captured – today – by @NASA spacecraft. ????????????
This is the Moon and the distant crescent Earth as seen today by the @NASA_Orion spacecraft during the #Artemis I mission. https://t.co/vbuOpAPQ2Z pic.twitter.com/Ak046fMVmO
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) December 5, 2022