370,000 km from Earth, the Orion capsule “grazes” the Moon: “In this decade there will be people living there”

the capsule Orion affiliate Containertransferred as part of the mission Artemis Iwhich passed on Monday about 130 kilometers from the surface molea milestone in the mission to return humans to the moon.

In this context, the supervisor of the NASA Orion program, Howard huhstressing that this mission is key to ensuring that humans can stay on the satellite for extended periods.

In an interview with BBCHe confirmed that “Certainly in this decade there will be people who live there.”

In an interview Sunday with The Laura Kuenssberg Show, the expert also explained: “They will have environments s rovers On Earth, we’re also working on it at NASA.”

“That’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to send people to the roof and they’ll live on that roof and do science.In conclusion, Hu added, “These are the starting points that we hope will enable this future capacity… and give those opportunities and choices to our children, their grandchildren, and their children.”

Orion on Monday ignited the motorized take-off flyby at 7.44hrs, the first of two maneuvers required to enter distant orbit retrograde to the moon, NASA explained on its website.

At the time of the flyby of the Moon, Orion was more than 370,000 km from Earth.

Monday’s flyby of the lunar surface was the closest the Orion capsule would get to the moon before reentry.orbit recedingThis means that it will revolve around the Moon in the opposite direction to the Moon’s orbit around the Earth.

After flying over the moon, Orion will travel 64,400 kilometers behind the far side of the moon, which is the farthest a spacecraft that intends to transport humans in the future has traveled.

Last Wednesday, the 16th, NASA’s Artemis I unmanned mission successfully lifted off, with the goal of preparing a lunar exploration trajectory for cargo of subsequent astronauts.

The overall goal of NASA’s Artemis program is Return humans to the moon For the first time in half a century and establishing a base there as a step towards reaching Mars.

The last NASA mission in which astronauts set foot on the surface of the moon dates back to Apollo 17, which took place between December 7 and 19, 1972.

During the 42-day mission, NASA aims to test the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, which is powered by four RS-25 engines and two attached thrusters, characteristics that deliver 15 percent more power than the Saturn rocket used on the Apollo missions. NASA said.

In the same way, the capabilities of the Orion ship will be measured, with up to four crew members, one more than the Apollo, with reserves of water and oxygen that allow it about 20 days of independent travel.

(with information from EFE)

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