NASA's Orion capsule enters far-flung orbit around moon

Cape Canaveral, November 26

NASA's Orion capsule has entered an orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles around the moon, as it neared the halfway mark of its test flight.

The capsule and its three test dummies entered lunar orbit more than a week after launching on the USD4 billion demo that's meant to pave the way for astronauts. It will remain in this broad but stable orbit for nearly a week, completing just half a lap before heading home.

Talk about showing both sides of the story. Nice frontback, Orion.

On flight day 9, @NASA_Orion took these images looking forward to the Moon, and back home toward Earth.

More full-res images: https://t.co/pUudalErEr
Track #Artemis I in real time: https://t.co/fCVt3jyqwy pic.twitter.com/bnY0uXbWnh

— NASA (@NASA) November 25, 2022

As of Friday's engine firing, the capsule was 238,000 miles (380,000 kilometers) from Earth. It's expected to reach a maximum distance of almost 270,000 miles (432,000 kilometers) in a few days. That will set a new distance record for a capsule designed to carry people one day.

“It is a statistic, but it's symbolic for what it represents,” Jim Geffre, an Orion manager, said in a NASA interview earlier in the week. “It's about challenging ourselves to go farther, stay longer and push beyond the limits of what we've previously explored.” NASA considers this a dress rehearsal for the next moon flyby in 2024, with astronauts. A lunar landing by astronauts could follow as soon as 2025. Astronauts last visited the moon 50 years ago during Apollo 17.

Earlier in the week, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with the capsule for nearly an hour. At the time, controllers were adjusting the communication link between Orion and the Deep Space Network. Officials said the spacecraft remained healthy. AP

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