The Orion spacecraft was stationed in a distant lunar orbit, on the tenth day of the Artemis 1 mission, according to what was announced by the US Space Agency (NASA) on Friday.
And the agency stated, in a post on its blog, that the flight controllers will, during the presence of “Orion” in this lunar orbit, “monitor the vital systems of the vehicle, and they will conduct audits related to the deep space environment.”
This new capsule is about 64,000 km from the moon, to which it is supposed to transport astronauts in the coming years, for the first time since the last American flight as part of the Apollo mission in 1972.
At this distance, the vehicle will need at least 6 days to make a half-turn around the moon, before starting its return trip to Earth. This first test flight, which is unmanned, aims to ensure that the vehicle is safe.
It is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, after just over 25 days of flight.
The success of this mission governs the future of the next mission, Artemis 2, which will transport astronauts around the moon without landing, and then Artemis 3, which will finally allow humans to return to the surface of the moon. These missions are scheduled to be formally completed in 2024 and 2025.
(AFP)