NASA Orion flies past the lunar surface for the last time

NASA’s Orion capsule passed the lunar surface for the last time Monday night. This puts Orion on course for its return to Earth. The space capsule should land in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, December 11.

The Orion spacecraft completed its last flyby of the lunar surface before returning to Earth on Monday evening, writes NASA. Orion passed the lunar surface at about 130km altitude. In a video shows the capsule approaching the moon just before its return powered flyby burn, which now gives Orion enough speed to return to Earth.

The capsule thereby performed a main engine ignition, which lasted 3 minutes and 27 seconds. According to NASA, this ignition changed Orion’s speed by about 1,054 kilometers per hour. It will be Orion’s last major engine maneuver during the Artemis 1 mission, which acts as a flight test of the capsule before it is used to transport humans later this decade.

NASA’s Orion capsule is scheduled to crash into the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 11. Once there, a team of divers and technicians will sail on small boats to the spacecraft, after which it will be towed back to a ship. With that, the Artemis 1 mission comes to an end. During this mission, all Orion systems were tested in preparation for Artemis 2 and 3. Artemis 2 performs a similar lunar flyby test, but with humans on board. Artemis 3 should take people to the lunar surface in 2025.

Orion completes its return powered flyby and is on its way back to Earth. Source: NASA