NASA launches Artemis I rocket bound for the moon
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NASA’s Orion capsule has made one final journey around the moon on its way back home which included going past a couple of old Apollo sites. The craft passed within 80 miles of the far side of the moon as it used lunar gravity as a slingshot for the 237,000-mile (381,414km) journey back to Earth.
It has spent a week in lunar orbit.
After it remerged from behind the moon and reestablished contact with flight controllers in Houston, the capsule sent back photos of of a close-up moon and a crescent Earth – Earthrise.
It is aiming to splashdown in the Pacific ocean on Sunday off the coast of San Diego.
According to officials, the three week flight has exceeded expectations.
However, the significant challenge of reentry still lies ahead as the capsule will hit the atmosphere at more than 30 times the speed of sound.
During the craft’s lunar orbit this week, it passed the landing sites of Apollo 12 and 14.
However, due to the fact that it was 1,200 miles (1,931km) up it was impossible to make out the different stages of the lunar landers or anything else that had been left by astronauts more than 50 years ago.
Orion launched on November 16, on the first flight of NASA’s most powerful ever rocket the Space Launch System (SLS).
The next flight, which is scheduled for early 2024, will carry four astronauts around the moon.
A third mission, which is planned for 2025, will see the first lunar landing by astronauts for over 50 years.
It was 50 years ago this month that the last manned mission to the moon Apollo 17 launched from Kennedy Space Centre on December 7, 1972.
Astronauts Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt and Ron Evans took part in the mission.
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Mr Cernan and Mr Schmitt spent three days on the surface of the moon the longest stay of the Apollo era.
In contrast, Mr Evans orbited around the moon.
However, only Mr Schmitt is still alive today.
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