NASA has published photos from the journey of the Orion spacecraft to the

.

As reported by Space.com, the Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft launched on November 16 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport at 1:47 a.m. local time.

Shortly thereafter, it reached Earth orbit, and 87 minutes after launch, Orion performed a maneuver to enter the Moon's orbit.

On Monday, November 21, Orion came as close as possible to the Moon - at a distance of 130 kilometers, in order to speed up the return journey to Earth with a gravitational maneuver.

This fairly close approach was caused by the spacecraft and its three test dummies being on the far side of the Moon.

#Artemis I, Flight Day 5. Orion spacecraft takes a selfie while approaching the Moon ahead of the outbound powered flyby - a burn of Orion's main engine on the @ESA service module.

During this maneuver, Orion came within 81 miles of the lunar surface.

pic.twitter.com/93GkJ7Ubry

— Orion Spacecraft (@NASA_Orion) November 22, 2022

NASA's spacecraft will spend about a week in lunar orbit before heading home.

Its landing in the Pacific Ocean is scheduled for December 11.

The mission is designed to be a flight test of the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft, and the corresponding ground control systems ahead of the Artemis 2 and 3 missions, scheduled for 2024 and 2025, respectively.

The ultimate goal of the mission is to return man to the moon.

We will remind you that earlier NASA astronomers

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