NASA mission reaches moon

The unmanned Orion capsule on Monday reached the moon and is now in lunar orbit until Dec. 11 when it is planned to splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

This is the first capsule that has visited the moon since the Apollo mission 50 years ago. So far, the system has performed just as predicted, said Artemis I mission manager Mike Sarafin. If all continues to go well, the Artemis I program plans to put a man on the moon by 2025. 

Will the rocket break any records? Orion will break NASA’s distance record for spacecraft designed for astronauts. Apollo 13 went 250,000 miles away from Earth in 1970. Orion will be nearly 270,000 miles from Earth by Monday. Astronauts could strap into Orion to go around the moon as early as 2024. 

This story originally appeared in WORLD. © 2022, reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.