Yahoo News Nasa's Artemis spacecraft reaches the Moon
Nasa’s Orion spacecraft reached the Moon’s orbit on Monday, flying over Tranquility Base where Neil Armstrong walked 53 years ago.
The Artemis mission launched its test flight last Wednesday, the first time an astronaut-class spacecraft has ventured into lunar orbit since the Apollo programme was cancelled.
The spacecraft, which is powered by an old space shuttle engine, needed to make a precise two-minute burn on the dark side of the Moon so it could enter retrograde orbit, where it will remain for six days.
Retrograde orbit means it will be travelling in the opposite direction to the anticlockwise direction that the Moon spins around the Earth. At closest approach it flew within 81 miles of the lunar surface.
Nasa lost the signal from Orion for 34 minutes as it swept behind the satellite, with mission controllers facing an anxious wait to find out if the manoeuvre had been successful.
But at 1.25pm GMT the spacecraft regained contact with Earth and moved into an elliptical orbit which will eventually take it out into deep space, before the return journey home.
Zeb Scoville, Nasa flight director and the grandson of Alistair Cooke, the late broadcaster, said: “This is one of those days that you've been thinking about and dreaming about for a long, long time.
“This morning we just saw the Earth set behind the Moon as we take the next human rated vehicle around the moon, preparing to bring humans back there within a few years. This is a game changer.
“This is not a repeat of Apollo, we are going to be setting up there, doing the architecture and research which will give us the ability to explore and move beyond to Mars.
“We’re going to come back with the crew on Artemis II and then Artemis III will get us on to the surface.”
The propulsion system to get to the Moon is being provided by the European Service Module built in Germany by Airbus, which also supplies air and water to the crew and controls temperature.
Mission has a phantom female crew
For its return trip to Earth, it gets another gravity assist from the Moon to set it back on track for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on December 11.
Humans last walked on the Moon in December 1972, when the final Apollo mission touched down.
The crew comprised Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison "Jack" Schmitt who both walked on the lunar surface, while Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans orbited above.
The unmanned Artemis 1 mission has a phantom female crew – mannequin torsos made to mimic the human body – to find out how to help women survive the rigours of deep space flight.
Nasa has vowed to place the first woman on the lunar surface in 2025, but the female body is extremely vulnerable to space radiation - high speed particles which tear through DNA molecules, wreaking havoc internally.
A further mannequin, wearing the Orion Crew Survival System suit will also occupy the commander’s seat on the Artemis I mission, outfitted with sensors to provide data on what crew members may experience during flight.
