NASA’s Orion spacecraft captured some mind-blowing images from the Moon. The shared images include striking moments in which the Moon and the Earth changed the scenarios.
The Orion capsule, part of NASA’s Artemis mission, recently passed just 128 kilometers above the Moon. Very important moments from this very close flyby have been immortalized. The Orion spacecraft is now on its way back and is expected to land on Earth in a few days.
The Artemis 1 mission is the first step in NASA’s manned lunar missions. The space agency conducted system and simulation tests with Artemis 3 before carrying out a manned lunar mission. Inside the Orion vehicle, there are only inanimate models. Orion will also host humans on the next mission, but it can only capture photos with its heavily modified GoPro Hero 4 camera.
On its first close pass to the Moon, Orion’s photographs look fascinating. The crescent you see in the top photo is us. Normally we are used to seeing the Moon as a crescent, but this time the roles have been reversed. You can check out the other photos in the gallery at the end of the news.
Commenting live from mission control in Houston, Sandra Jones said, “In this view, we see 8 billion human lives existing on our pale blue dot. And after a long journey, Orion is now coming home.”
NASA took these photos as the Orion craft’s engines were firing again for the return to Earth. As you may recall, NASA launched the Artemis 1 mission via the Space Launch System on November 15. This maneuver will bring Orion’s orbit into Earth’s gravity.
Orion will land off the coast of California on December 11. The next mission, Artemis II, is scheduled to carry astronauts to the Moon in 2024 on a similar path to Artemis I, without landing on the Moon. Then, humans will finally set foot on the lunar surface again with Artemis III, scheduled for launch in 2025.