CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Orion capsule arrived on the moon Monday, circling the backside and passing 128 kilometers (80 miles) on its way to a record-breaking lunar orbit.
The close approach occurred when the crew capsule and its three test dummies were on the far side of the moon. Because of the half-hour communication blackout, flight controllers in Houston did not know whether the critical engine ignition was OK until the capsule emerged from behind the Moon, more than 232,000 miles (375,000 kilometers ) of the Earth.
It’s the first time a capsule has visited the moon since NASA’s Apollo program 50 years ago, and it represented a major milestone in the $4.1 billion test flight that began last Wednesday. Orion’s flight path took it over the landing sites of Apollo 11, 12, and 14—mankind’s first three lunar landings.
The moon was seen getting bigger in video broadcast early this morning as the capsule closed in on the final thousands of miles since blasting off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center last Wednesday atop the most powerful rocket never built by NASA.
“This is one of those days you’ve been thinking about and talking about for a long, long time,” Flight Director Zeb Scoville said as he waited to resume contact.
As the capsule left behind the moon, the onboard cameras sent back an image of Earth: a blue dot surrounded by darkness.
Orion needed to launch itself around the moon to gain enough speed to enter the warped and exposed lunar orbit. If all goes well, another engine fire will put the capsule into that orbit on Friday.
Next weekend, Orion will break NASA’s distance record for a spacecraft designed for astronauts, nearly 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth, set by Apollo 13 in 1970. And it will continue , reaching a maximum distance from Earth next Monday of nearly 270,000. miles (433,000 kilometers).
The capsule will spend about a week in lunar orbit before returning home. A splash in the Pacific is expected on December 11.
Orion has no lunar landings; a landing won’t come until NASA astronauts attempt a lunar landing in 2025 with SpaceX’s spacecraft. Before that, however, astronauts will hook up to Orion for a walk around the moon as early as 2024.
NASA managers were delighted with the mission’s progress. The Space Launch System rocket performed very well in its debut, reporters were told late last week.
The 98-meter rocket caused more damage than expected, however, to the Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad. The force of the 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of liftoff thrust was so great that it ripped the elevator doors off. ___
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science is supported by the Department of Science Education at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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