NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Approaching The Moon

NASA's Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Approaching The Moon

Artemis I, Flight Day 5, Nov. 21, 2022: Orion spacecraft takes a selfie while approaching the Moon ahead of the outbound powered flyby—a burn of Orion's main engine that gets us into lunar orbit. During this maneuver Orion came within 81 miles of the lunar surface.

The spacecraft was preparing for the Outbound Powered Flyby (OPF) maneuver which would bring it within 80 miles of the lunar surface, the closest approach of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, before moving into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence Sunday, Nov. 20, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft.

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

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: Nov. 21, 2022

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