Artemis-I to flyby Moon today: Where and how to watch it live
1 min read 21 Nov 2022, 05:35 PM ISTOrion is preparing to perform the first of four main thrusts scheduled during the mission using its engines which will bring the spacecraft as close as 80 miles to the moon
PremiumThe researchers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on 19 November had said that they had checked up on their moon bound rocketship and revered that the Artemis mission has ‘exceeded expectations’.
"Today we met to review the Orion spacecraft performance... it is exceeding performance expectations," said Mike Sarafin, head of the Artemis 1 mission.
On the 6 day of the Artemis mission, the spacecraft is supposed to buzz the Moon. The next generation capsule set off on a crewless voyage of 25.5 days around the moon taking US a step closer to putting astronauts on the lunar surface, fifty years after Apollo mission.
The US space agency is aiming to send four astronauts around the moon on the next flight, in 2024, and land humans there as early as 2025.
The Artemis has entered the lunar sphere of influence making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft.
Orion is preparing to perform the first of four main thrusts scheduled during the mission using its engines.
This maneuver, which will take place early Monday morning, will bring the spacecraft as close as 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the lunar surface, in order to take advantage of the Moon's gravitational force.
Since this will take place on the far side of the Moon, NASA is expected to lose contact with the spacecraft for approximately 35 minutes.
"We will be passing over some of the Apollo landing sites," said flight director Jeff Radigan, although they will be in darkness. Footage of the flyover will be released by NASA.
Four days later, a second thrust from the engines will place Orion in a distant orbit around the Moon.
The ship will go up to 40,000 miles beyond the Moon, a record for a habitable capsule.
It will then begin the journey back to Earth, with a landing in the Pacific Ocean scheduled for December 11, after just over 25 days of flight.
(With agency inputs)
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