American “Orion” spacecraft flies over the moon

Xinhua News Agency, Los Angeles, November 21 (Reporter Tan Jingjing) NASA stated that the “Orion” spacecraft that carried out the US “Artemis 1” unmanned flight test mission around the moon flew over the moon on the 21st US Eastern Time.

According to the NASA website, at 6:57 U.S. Eastern Time on the 21st (19:57 Beijing Time on the 21st), the “Orion” spacecraft flew by about 130 kilometers from the lunar surface at a speed of about 8,120 kilometers per hour. Before flying over the moon, the spacecraft successfully completed a power burn to accelerate the vehicle. When flying over the moon, the spacecraft was about 370,000 kilometers away from the earth.

NASA said the “Orion” spacecraft entered the moon’s influence area so that the moon replaced the earth as the spacecraft’s primary gravitational force. The power burning before flying over the moon helps the spacecraft use the moon’s gravity to gain faster speed and send the “Orion” spacecraft into a farther orbit around the moon.

According to the NASA website, the “Orion” spacecraft will reach a distance of about 400,000 kilometers from the earth on the 26th, which will surpass the record for the longest distance of a manned spacecraft flight set by the previous “Apollo 14”.

At 1:47 U.S. Eastern Time on the 16th (14:47 Beijing Time on the 16th), the “Orion” spacecraft carried NASA’s new generation of moon landing rocket “Space Launch System” and lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Artemis 1″ unmanned flight test mission around the moon.

NASA stated that the “Artemis 1” unmanned test mission around the moon is the first step in a series of lunar exploration missions in the United States and will lay the foundation for subsequent manned lunar exploration missions.