LOS ANGELES, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — The Orion spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) completed its closest flyby of the Moon this morning.
Prior to the flyby, the mission team performed a powered flyby firing at 07:44 ET, increasing the spacecraft’s speed to a rate of more than 580 miles per hour (928 kilometers per hour), according to NASA.
At the time of the flyby, Orion was 81 miles (130 kilometers) above the lunar surface, traveling at 5,102 miles per hour (8,163 kilometers per hour). It was more than 230,000 miles (368,000 kilometers) from Earth during the flyby.
The powered-out flyby burn is the first of two maneuvers required to enter the far retrograde orbit around the Moon, according to NASA.
Carrying an unmanned Orion spacecraft, NASA’s Space Launch System lifted off for its first test flight debut last Wednesday from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on December 11 and touch down off the coast of San Diego, California.
The Artemis I test flight will pave the way for human flight testing and future human lunar exploration as part of NASA’s Artemis lunar program.
