Spaceship Orion successfully completed its closest flyby to its surface today Moonaccording to NASA’s update on the unmanned Artemis 1 mission.

Moving at a speed of 8,163 km / h, Orion passed 130 km from the surface of the Earth’s satellite.

The spacecraft was launched last Wednesday on an SLS (Space Launch System) rocket – the most powerful NASA ever built – from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

If the schedule is strictly adhered to, Orion is expected to return to Earth on December 11 and dock at the coast of San Diego, California.

The unmanned mission marks the start of NASA’s flagship Artemis program, which aims to send the first woman to the moon as early as 2025. NASA plans to maintain a permanent presence of astronauts on the Moon, including the construction of an orbiting space station around the Earth’s satellite. . For the US space agency, it will be the springboard for the first mission to the planet Mars.

Source: APE/MEB