artemis 1

Orion’s view of the Moon and crescent Earth moments after completing its second close lunar flyby on December 5.Photo: NASAOrion’s most recent accomplishments include a new distance record, a close flyby of the Moon, and a trajectory correction maneuver that sent the uncrewed capsule on its journey back to Earth. Not surprisingly, these milestone events made for some excellent photo opportunities. Artemis 1 is nearly over, with the historic 25.5-day mission concluding just four days from now. It’s been a big success, with…

NASA's Orion capsule and its test dummies swooped one last time around the moon Monday, flying over a couple Apollo landing sites before heading home. Orion will aim for a Pacific splashdown Sunday off San Diego, setting the stage for astronauts on the next flight in a couple years. The capsule passed within 80 miles (130 kilometers) of the far side of the moon, using the lunar gravity as a slingshot for the 237,000-mile (380,000-kilometer) ride back to Earth. It spent a week in a wide, sweeping lunar orbit. Once…

Orion’s view of the Moon, taken approximately 1 hour prior to today’s lunar flyby. Screenshot: NASA TVThere are less than six days left in the Artemis 1 mission and the time has come for the uncrewed Orion spacecraft to perform one last close flyby of the Moon and execute a major course correction. You can follow along live right here.During the close lunar flyby, slated for Monday, December 5 at 11:42 a.m. (all times Eastern), Orion will come within 72.9 miles (117.3 kilometers) of the Moon’s surface. The burn will…

The SLS rocket taking off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo: NASANASA has conducted a preliminary review of the inaugural Space Launch System launch, saying the rocket met and even exceeded all expectations. On Wednesday, NASA released its initial analysis of SLS’ performance as it lifted off on November 16, sending an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the Moon for the space agency’s Artemis 1 mission. “The first launch of the Space Launch System rocket was simply eye-watering,” Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager,…

Orion with the Moon and Earth in the background. The image was taken on November 28, when Orion was 268,563 miles away from our home planet. Photo: NASAIt’s day 16 of the 25.5-day Artemis 1 mission, which means it’s time for the Orion spacecraft to begin its journey back home. The uncrewed capsule will attempt to depart distant retrograde orbit on Thursday afternoon, and you can follow the action live right here.Orion successfully entered into distant retrograde orbit (DRO) on November 25, but now the spacecraft will move…

An absolutely surreal view of the Moon eclipsing Earth, as observed by Orion earlier today. Screenshot: NASA TVNASA’s Artemis 1 mission continues to go well, with Orion entering into its target orbit around the Moon on Friday. We’re now into the latter half of the 25.5-day demo mission, and with it comes a watershed moment for the record books.At 4:48 p.m. ET Monday, on what is flight day 13 of the mission, Orion will reach its maximum distance from Earth, at which point it will be approximately 268,554 miles (432,194…

FP StaffNov 28, 2022 12:55:11 ISTNASA’s Artemis 1 mission is probably the most significant space mission of this decade. Thanks to this mission, humans will be returning to the moon for an extended period of time, and will be participating in months of exploration and in-depth investigation to see if life as we know it can be sustained in any way beyond Earth. NASA’s SLS rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image Credit: NASA In an…

NASA’s Orion capsule entered an orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles around the moon Friday, as it neared the halfway mark of its test flight. NASA's Orion capsule entered an orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles around the moon Friday, 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 $4 billion demo that's meant to pave the way for astronauts. It will remain in this broad but stable orbit for nearly a…

Orion looking back at Earth on Thursday, November 24.Image: NASAToday’s the day that the uncrewed Orion capsule reaches its ultimate destination, a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. For that to happen, however, the spacecraft must successfully execute a trajectory correction burn, which you can watch live right here.NASA’s coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. ET, with the trajectory correction burn scheduled to begin at 4:52 p.m. ET. You can follow along at NASA TV, YouTube, or at the live stream below. NASA Live:…

The current view inside Orion, featuring the Callisto tech demo. Also, check out the Snoopy plush doll, which is floating just to the bottom-right of center. Photo: NASANASA’s Artemis 1 mission features a host of demonstration technologies, including Callisto—a collaboration between Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cisco. The Callisto team is making it possible for anyone to communicate with the system, in which messages will be shown on an iPad screen “for the world to see.” Few of us will ever get the chance to go to space,…