Orion Spacecraft Orbits The Moon
The Orion spacecraft successfully flew around the Moon at a distance of only about 130 km from the surface.
In the area of the Far Side of the Moon, which is not visible from the Earth, at 07:44 US East Coast time, the main engine was turned on for two and a half minutes on the ship. Following this, about 13 minutes later, Orion flew at an altitude of only 130 km from the surface of a natural satellite of the Earth. As a result of the maneuver, the ship began to gradually move away from the moon.
According to NASA, the orbit of Orion’s flight over the Moon, in particular, passed over the landing area in the past of the American manned Apollo 11.
The spacecraft was launched on November 16 by a Space Launch System (SLS) super-heavy launch vehicle as part of the Artemis 1 (“Artemis-1”) mission. The rocket was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The test flight should demonstrate the readiness of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft for a manned mission.
