The Orion spacecraft saw the back side of the moon, having flown 129 km from the satellite, and will reach its destination in three days
Orion, the space capsule with a mannequin inside, passed as close to the moon as possible the day before and continued toward its goal.
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On November 21 at 2:44 p.m. (EET), the spacecraft passed within 129 kilometers of the moon, although it had previously been reported that the distance between the capsule and the satellite would be 97 kilometers. As planned, it happened about 5 days and 6 hours after the launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Orion approached the back side of the moon, which is not visible from Earth.
The spacecraft turned off its rocket engine to make the approach, and after the distance was reduced to 129 kilometers, it began to move away from the surface of our planet's satellite. As the spacecraft was near the reverse side of the moon, all processes were carried out in automatic mode.
The goal of Orion is to enter a distant orbit of the Moon. If all goes according to plan, the task will be completed on November 25. The capsule will remain in a deep orbit with the engine off until December 1. The first mission of the Artemis lunar program, which started on November 16, should end on December 11, landing in the Pacific. If successful, the year 2024 will start mission Artemis II, in which the spacecraft will bypass the moon, but with the crew instead of a dummy.