Artemis 1’s Orion capsule takes close-up photos of the moon
The moon looks spectacular in images captured by NASA’s Orion spacecraft as it cruised just 80 miles above the lunar surface during the Artemis 1 mission’s closest approach to Earth’s natural satellite on Monday (Nov. 21).
These detailed black and white images were created by the Orion spacecraft‘s built-in optical navigation camera on day 6 of the mission, the same day he launched a crucial engine combustion.
Orion is currently preparing for a critical maneuver that will launch the capsule into high Earth orbit the moon on Friday (November 25). The capsule will perform a single engine burn and if all goes well it will remain in lunar orbit for about a week before beginning its journey back to Earth. Soil. The spacecraft is expected to crash into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on December 11.
Related: NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission: live updates
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These detailed black and white images were created by the Orion spacecraft‘s built-in optical navigation camera on day 6 of the mission, the same day he launched a crucial engine combustion.
Orion has been busy capturing images of the Earth and moon at different phases and distances to test the effectiveness of its optical navigation camera under different lighting conditions as a way to facilitate spacecraft orientation during future manned missions, according to the image descriptions at NASA’s Flickr account (opens in new tab).
artemis 1 is a groundbreaking mission designed to test the readiness of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and giant Space Launch System (SLS) missile for future missions of the Artemis program.
If all goes well, the pair could fly astronauts to the moon’s vicinity as early as 2024 – the first time since 1972 – during artemis 2.
About a year or two later, Artemis 3 will land astronauts near the south pole of the moon.
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