Orion was launched on November 16, after years of preparation. The craft is expected to take people to the moon and back within a few years. To test all systems, it now circled the moon unmanned. The dolls were equipped with all kinds of sensors and measuring instruments.
The return flight to Earth, after more than two million kilometers in space, was launched just over a week ago. According to NASA, the spacecraft performed better than expected.
Here you can see the pictures of the splash in the sea:
The ship consists of two parts. At the front is the American side where the crew will later sit. At the rear, on the European side, are the Dutch engine and solar panels that generate electricity. Shortly before reentry into the atmosphere, they separated. The European part burned up in the atmosphere, the American part slowed down and plunged into the sea as planned.
The first woman on the moon
Orion is part of the Artemis I program, the successor to the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, which made the United States the first and only country to land a man on the moon. Artemis is the first woman to set foot on the moon.
Another aircraft was also launched today to the moon from Cape Canaveral Space Station. It is a lander of the Japanese company ispace, the launch was made with a rocket of SpaceX, the space company of the entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Also on board is the Rashid scout, developed by the United Arab Emirates. The trolley has to go around the moon for about two weeks to conduct scientific research with cameras and sensors. Rashid weighs about 10 kilos, is over 50 centimeters long and wide and about 70 centimeters tall. As the lander makes a large detour, landing is not expected to occur until April.
