NASA captured the amazing pictures of the moon up close

Thanks to the Artemis program mission, NASA has sent the Orion spacecraft less than 130 kilometers from the lunar surface. Great pictures of the moon were taken.

NASA provides us with a wealth of lavish images. NASA’s Orion space capsule completed a flyby of the Moon on Monday, December 5, less than 130 kilometers from its surface, a spectacular maneuver that marks the beginning of the journey back to Earth for this first mission of the Artemis program. By making this close flyby of the surface, the spacecraft took advantage of the moon’s gravitational pull to propel itself on its return trajectory.

This view of the moon is only…

More photos from @employee Posted here: https://t.co/2vXFwmLzKK pic.twitter.com/qiOWmSOIRh

—NASA Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) December 10, 2022

Communication with the capsule was lost for 30 minutes when it passed behind the hidden face from the moon. The primary thrust of the European service unit’s main engine, which propels the capsule, lasted just over three minutes. “We couldn’t be happier with the ship’s performance,” said Debbie Kurth, vice president of Orion, later.

Six days in a distant orbit around the moon

In front of the adorable photos that go live once connection is restored, “we had to stop and just watch: Wow, we’re saying goodbye to the moonshe said during a press conference. During the mission, Orion spent about six days in distant orbit around the Moon.

A week ago, this brand new spacecraft broke the habitable distance record for a capsule, as they ventured more than 432,000 kilometers from our planet, far from the Apollo missions. Upon its return to Earth, the capsule has traveled more than 2.2 million kilometers in total, said Mike Saravin, mission manager.

This was the last major maneuver for the mission. The latter kicked off with NASA’s massive new rocket launch on November 16, on a journey that should last 25 and a half days in total.