NASA’s Artemis mission reached its farthest distance from Earth on Monday.
Orion flew to its maximum distance from Earth during the Artemis I mission on flight day 13. It was 43,2210 kilometers away from our home planet.
Orion has now traveled farther than any other spacecraft built for humans.
“It’s incredible just how smoothly this mission has gone, but this is a test. That’s what we do – we test it and we stress it,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
NASA says the un-crewed spacecraft remains in healthy condition as it continues its journey in distant retrograde orbit. Orion was cruising at 2702 kilometers per hour just before 8 p.m. on Monday.
The mission is expected to last 25.5 days total and teams are already preparing for the spacecraft’s return.
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team and the U.S. Navy are already beginning initial operations for recovery of Orion when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.
The team will deploy Tuesday for training at sea before their return to shore to make final preparations ahead of splashdown.
Visit NASA’s real-time Orion tracker to follow the mission around the moon and back in real time.
