{"id":17327,"date":"2022-12-05T21:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T13:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-orion-spacecraft-zooms-around-the-moon-and-sets-a-course-for-splashdown\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T21:08:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T13:08:00","slug":"nasas-orion-spacecraft-zooms-around-the-moon-and-sets-a-course-for-splashdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-orion-spacecraft-zooms-around-the-moon-and-sets-a-course-for-splashdown\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft zooms around the moon and sets a course for splashdown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A crescent Earth looms above the lunar horizon in an image captured by NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft (seen in the left foreground). The reddish dot and the rays of light are camera artifacts. (NASA \/ ESA Photo) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA\u2019s Orion capsule fired its main engine for three and a half minutes today during a close approach to the moon, executing a maneuver that\u2019s meant to put the spacecraft on course for a splashdown in six days.<\/p>\n

Orion came within 80 miles to the lunar surface during what\u2019s expected to be the final large maneuver of its 25.5-day Artemis 1 mission. Today\u2019s maneuver had to succeed in order to bring the uncrewed spacecraft back to Earth intact. The only other firings on the schedule are aimed at making tweaks in the trajectory.<\/p>\n

Artemis 1, which began with the first-ever liftoff of NASA\u2019s giant Space Launch rocket on the night of Nov. 15, is a test flight designed to blaze a trail for future crewed missions to the moon. The SLS sent Orion on a looping course that took advantage of the moon\u2019s gravitational pull and ranged as far as 40,000 miles beyond the moon.<\/p>\n

Although there are no astronauts aboard Orion this time, the seats are filled by three mannequins that have been hooked up with sensors to monitor radiation exposure, temperature levels and other factors that might affect future fliers.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also an experimental, Alexa-style AI assistant code-named Callisto, which was built for NASA by Lockheed Martin in collaboration with Amazon and Cisco. Ground controllers and VIPs, including \u201cHidden Figures\u201d actress Taraji P. Henson, have been using Callisto to check in with the capsule during the mission.<\/p>\n

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