The Orion spacecraft of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues its exciting journey as part of the Artemis I mission. Today it continues its journey to reach the far end by flying 130 km above the surface of the Moon. a satellite of our planet.

The Orion spacecraft was near the far side of the Moon, invisible from Earth, when the thruster was briefly activated. This procedure was initiated at 07:44 EST (15:44 Kyiv time). As a result, the ship got as close as possible to the surface of the satellite and then began to move away from it to enter the given orbit within a few days. It should be noted that the maneuver took place in automatic mode, because at that time the ship was on the far side of the Moon and was not suitable for observation from Earth.

We will remind you that the current flight of Orion is part of the Artemis I mission – the ship must fly around the moon, then return to Earth and land near the coast of the United States. The mission is part of the US lunar program, one of whose missions is to build a lunar research base by the end of this decade. As part of Artemis I, the giant Space Launch System rocket, currently the world’s most powerful launch vehicle, was tested.

Orion’s next maneuver will be on November 25, which will put the spacecraft into a distant orbit around the Moon by December 1. After that, Orion will restart its thrusters to bring the vehicle out of orbit and back to Earth. The reentry phase followed by the descent into the Pacific Ocean should occur on 11 December. This will complete the Artemis I quest. If deemed successful, as part of the Artemis II mission in 2024, a team of astronauts will embark on a flight around the moon aboard the Orion craft.