NASA’s Orion spacecraft returns today from its flyby of the moon. Follow our live coverage.
NASA’s Artemis I mission, the first in its push to return astronauts to the moon, is coming to an end after 26 days in space with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
No astronauts were aboard the craft as it flew over the lunar surface and reached a distance of more than 268,000 miles from Earth, but the flight has gone exceedingly well, raising hopes for Artemis II, the first flight with crew. That will also circle the moon, perhaps in 2024. A human landing on the lunar surface will come after that.
The test today will show how well the spacecraft’s heat shield holds up as Orion plunges though the atmosphere, with temperatures reaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.♦ The Orion capsule, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, will slam into Earth’s atmosphere traveling at almost 25,000 mph, or Mach 32 — 32 times the speed of sound.
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