NASA’s Orion Capsule Comes Within 81 Miles of the Moon
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NASA’s new Orion crew capsule came within 81 miles of the lunar surface Monday.
NASA's new Orion crew capsule came within 81 miles of the lunar surface Monday. Its path also took the spacecraft over the Apollo 11 landing site, Tranquility Base, where astronauts first landed on the moon in 1969.The flyby occurred after Orion ignited its main engine for 2 1/2 minutes, a critical maneuver that put the vehicle on course to enter the moon's orbit later this week. The lunar approach is part of NASA's Artemis I mission, which launched from Florida early on Nov. 16. The flight is the first major mission in the space agency's Artemis program, which aims to send the first woman and the first person of color to the moon. No astronauts are on board Orion. Artemis I is testing the hardware...