Earth Views: NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Journeys to The Moon

Earth Views: NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Journeys to The Moon

On the second day of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission, Orion used its optical navigation camera to snap photos of planet Earth. Orion uses the optical navigation camera to capture imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances, providing an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness as a method for determining its position in space for future missions under different lighting conditions.

Earth image from the Orion spacecraft on Nov. 16, 2022, following liftoff of Orion atop the Space Launch System (SLS) from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida just hours before. 

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. It will demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. Orion is completing a 25-day test of all key systems. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

On the Artemis III Mission, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars. 

Learn more about Artemis I at:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Image#1 Note: The original image was provided in low resolution and in black and white.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image #1 Processing: PipploIMP (for reconstruction/enlargement/color via AI)

Image Dates: November 16-17, 2022 

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