NASA's flagship Artemis I mission has flown within 130 kilometres of the moon, in a test of the Orion capsule that could one day help return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972
NASA’s Artemis I mission has made a close approach to the moon, flying within 130 kilometres above the farside of the lunar surface on 21 November.
“It was surprising to me that it went without a hitch,” says space analyst Laura Forczyk. “I mean, there were small hitches, but it didn’t explode!” The biggest of those hitches was a set of loose bolts that a team was sent out to the launchpad shortly before launch to tighten – it is extraordinarily rare to see anyone working on rocket hardware so close to lift-off.Orion is expected to enter orbit around the moon on 25 November.
For that mission, NASA will have to be even more careful. “Humans are needy creatures,” says Emily Judd at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. “We have to have the oxygen to breathe, we need food, all of the life-support systems that are required – part of Artemis I is testing out those systems, making sure that everything is ready for the crew when they go up on Artemis II.
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