While more than 400,000 km from our planet, on Monday, November 28, 2022, the Orion capsule captured rare images of an Earth eclipse by the Moon, reports Numerama . As a reminder, the purpose of the mission Artemis 1 is to test the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft in order to prepare the future manned flight during which men should once again set foot on the lunar soil.
434,500 km from the Earth
These images taken around 4 p.m. come from the cameras installed at the end of the solar panels of Orion’s European service module. Made in France, the latter is used to propel the vessel “and will provide everything necessary for the survival of the astronauts”, specifies the ESA on its site.
The day after the clichés, which show the shadow of the moon cast on the blue planet, the capsule was at the furthest distance from our planet, more than 434,500 km. It is the first time that a spacecraft designed to be inhabited has gone so far into space. As a reminder, Orion spins in a retrograde orbit, that is to say that it advances in the opposite direction to the rotation of the satellite.
A return to the Moon in 2025
NASA also announced on Monday, November 28, that its controllers had managed to achieve “37.5% of mission-associated test targets, knowing that many of the remaining targets will be evaluated during entry, descent, ditching and recovery,” reports BFM TV .
While the mission should last 25 days and 11 hours, the return of the capsule is scheduled for Sunday, December 11, 2022. The next mission, Artemis 2, is scheduled for 2024. It will consist of embarking astronauts to circumnavigate the Moon without landing there. It is with Artemis 3, a year later, that humans will have the opportunity to return to the natural satellite, more than fifty after the Apollo mission.