Earthset from Orion
Explanation:
Eight billion people are about to disappear in this
snapshot
from space.
Taken on November 21, the
sixth
day of the Artemis 1 mission,
their home world is setting behind the Moon's bright edge as viewed by an
external
camera
on the outbound Orion spacecraft.
The Orion was headed for a powered flyby that
took it to within 130 kilometers of the lunar surface.
Velocity gained in the flyby maneuver will be used to reach a
distant
retrograde orbit
around the Moon.
That orbit is considered distant because it's another 92,000 kilometers
beyond the Moon, and retrograde because the spacecraft will
orbit in the opposite direction of the Moon's orbit around planet Earth.
Orion will enter its distant retrograde orbit on Friday, November 25.
Swinging around the Moon,
Orion will reach a maximum distance (just over 400,000 kilometers)
from Earth on Monday November 28 exceeding a record set by
Apollo 13 for most distant
spacecraft designed for
human space exploration.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
