NASA Orion spacecraft enters lunar orbit: officials

• NASA Orion spacecraft is safely placed in lunar orbit.
• Orion will fly about 40,000 miles above the Moon.
• It will then quit orbit and begin its trip home.

NASA Orion spacecraft was safely placed in lunar orbit on Friday, as the long-delayed Moon mission continued.

A little more than a week after the spacecraft launched from Florida en route to the Moon, flight controllers “successfully performed a burn to put Orion into a far retrograde orbit,” according to the US space agency’s website.

In the next years, the spaceship will transport men to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

This maiden flight without a crew is intended to ensure the vehicle’s safety.

“The orbit is distant in that Orion will fly about 40,000 miles above the Moon,” NASA said.

“While in lunar orbit, flight controllers will monitor key systems and perform checkouts while in the environment of deep space,” the agency said.

It will take Orion approximately one week to complete a lunar orbit. NASA reports that the spacecraft will then quit orbit and begin its trip home.

On Saturday, the ship is anticipated to travel up to 40,000 miles past the Moon, a record for a livable spacecraft. The current record is held by the Apollo 13 spacecraft, which reached a distance of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) from Earth.

It will then continue its trip back to Earth, with a scheduled landing in the Pacific Ocean on December 11 after approximately 25 days in space.

The success of this mission will influence the future of the Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 missions, which will bring people back to the lunar surface, respectively.

These missions are planned for the years 2024 and 2025, respectively.

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