NASA’s long-delayed Moon mission appeared to be proceeding without incident, as the Orion spacecraft was successfully placed in lunar orbit on Friday, according to officials (October 25). Flight controllers ‘successfully completed a burn to place Orion into a distant retrograde orbit,’ the US space agency said on its website, just over a week after the spacecraft launched from Florida headed for the Moon.
The spacecraft will fly astronauts to the Moon in the upcoming years. After the final Apollo mission in 1972, this will be NASA’s first lunar mission since then.
The goal of this maiden test flight without a crew is to make sure the vehicle is secure.
According to NASA, Orion will fly 40,000 miles above the Moon because of the orbit’s distance.
While the spacecraft is in lunar orbit, vital systems will be observed by flight controllers. Additionally, they will conduct inspections in the conditions of deep space.
For one-half of an orbit around the Moon, Orion will need around a week. According to NASA, it will then leave orbit and travel back to Earth.
The spacecraft is anticipated to go a record-breaking 40,000 kilometres beyond the Moon on Saturday. At 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometres) from Earth, the Apollo 13 spacecraft holds the current record.
After around 25 days of flight, it will start its return trip to Earth, with a landing in the Pacific Ocean planned for December 11.
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