On flight day 11, NASA’s Orion spacecraft captured images looking down at Earth from a camera mounted on one of its solar panels. The spacecraft is currently in a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. Credit: NASA
On Day 11 of the Artemis I mission, Orion continues its journey beyond the Moon after entering a distant retrograde orbit on Friday, November 25 at 3:52 p.m. CST. Orion will remain in this orbit for six days before exiting lunar orbit to set the spacecraft back on a trajectory back to Earth for a Sunday, Dec. 11 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
At 7:42 a.m. on Saturday, November 26, Orion broke the distance record for a mission with a spacecraft designed to ferry humans into deep space and back to Earth. The record was set during the Apollo 13 mission 248,655 miles (400,171 km) from our home planet. At its maximum distance from the Moon, Orion will be more than 435,000 km from Earth on Monday, November 28.
Engineers also completed the first orbital maintenance burn by firing auxiliary thrusters at Orion’s service module at 3:52 p.m. for less than a second to propel the spacecraft at 0.47 feet per second. Scheduled orbital maintenance burns will refine Orion’s trajectory as it continues its orbit around the Moon.
This high-resolution image captures the interior of the Orion Crew Pod on the first day of flight for the Artemis I mission. At left is Commander Moonikin Campos, a determined passenger fitted with sensors to collect data that will help scientists and engineers to understand the deep space environment for future Artemis missions. At the center is the Callisto payload, a technology demonstration of Lockheed Martin’s voice-activated audio and video technology in collaboration with Amazon and Cisco. Callisto could help future astronauts on deep space missions. Below and to the right of Callisto is the weightlessness indicator Artemis I, astronaut Snoopy. Credit: NASA
Flying aboard Orion on the Artemis I mission is an adapted dummy named after a key player in bringing Apollo 13 safely back to Earth. Arturo Campos was an electrical engineer who devised a plan to supply the command module with enough electrical power to return home safely after an oxygen tank aboard the Apollo spacecraft’s service module ruptured. Commander Moonikin Campos is outfitted with sensors to provide data on what crew members may experience in flight, continuing Campos’ legacy of enabling human exploration in deep space.
Artemis relies on the experience of Apollo. With Artemis, humans will return to the lunar surface, and this time to stay there.
” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{” attribute=””>NASA will use innovative technologies to explore the Moon’s South Pole and more of the lunar surface than ever before using the Gateway space station in lunar orbit along with advanced spacesuits and rovers. NASA will lead the way in collaboration with international and commercial partners to establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Then, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to
Saturday, November 26 at 8:42 a.m. EST (1:42 p.m.
” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{” attribute=””>UTC) the Orion spacecraft broke the record for the farthest distance traveled by a spacecraft designed to carry humans to deep space and safely return them to Earth. This distance is currently held by the Apollo 13 spacecraft. In this video, Apollo astronauts and flight directors give their insights into the Apollo program, the nation’s reaction then, and how the Artemis program will benefit the nation today. As we go back to the Moon, Artemis will prepare us to travel even deeper into space. Credit: NASA
As of 1:16 p.m. on November 26, Orion was 252,133 miles (405,769 km) from Earth and 52,707 miles (85,824 km) from the Moon, cruising at 2,013 miles (3,240 km) per hour. You can track Orion via the Artemis Real-Time Orbit Website, or AROW.
Learn more about how Apollo builds on Artemis and how Orion is designed for human missions to deep space.