On April 15th, 1970, an impressive distance benchmark was established by Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert when Apollo 13 journeyed 248,655 miles from our home planet. Nearly 56 years later, the Artemis II crew is anticipated to surpass that record by several thousand miles. Today, the Orion spacecraft is projected to achieve its farthest point, 252,757 miles away from Earth, as it circles the lunar far side.
If you wish to tune in from home, NASA’s broadcast of the lunar traverse commences at 1PM ET today. Astronauts are expected to establish the new distance record from Earth at 1:56PM ET. The circuit around the Moon’s far side will span approximately six hours, offering unprecedented views of the lunar surface and conducting reconnaissance to pinpoint potential touchdown sites for subsequent missions.
The Artemis II crew will experience a communications blackout with Earth for roughly 40 minutes, starting at 6:44PM ET, as they pass behind the Moon. Contact will be re-established at 7:25PM ET when our planet reappears to them. The mission’s schedule for today encompasses the following key occurrences:
Alongside the laser-based Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System, which the spacecraft employs to relay scientific and human-generated information back to Earth, more conventional radio-based communication systems remain operational. These include the Near Space Network, which leverages global ground stations and data relay spacecraft, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Deep Space Network, tasked with re-establishing Orion’s connection with mission control when it emerges from beyond the lunar disk.
Subsequently, the astronauts will endeavor to recreate the celebrated “Earthrise” photograph. This iconic image was captured during the Apollo 8 mission on December 24th, 1968, more than five decades prior.
Subsequent to a 17.5-second “outbound correction burn” to optimize the Orion spacecraft’s path, which commenced last night just after 11PM ET, the Artemis II mission crossed into the Moon’s gravitational domain around 12:41AM ET this morning. According to a NASA update, the Moon’s gravity now stands as the primary determinant of Orion’s trajectory.
After circling the Moon, the Orion capsule will devote the ensuing four days to its homeward journey to Earth. NASA is aiming for an oceanic landing in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10th.
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