Orion spacecraft approaches moon on Artemis II mission

The Orion spacecraft on NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight toward the moon in more than 50 years, is now closer to the moon than to Earth as it travels through deep space.

NASA said April 5 that Orion exited Earth’s orbit at 7:49 p.m. on April 2 and, by its fourth day in flight, had reached a distance of about 271,979 kilometers from Earth. At 9:09 p.m. on April 4, astronauts Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency took turns manually piloting the spacecraft. Over 41 minutes, they tested thruster systems through both six-degree-of-freedom maneuvers and basic directional control, gathering key performance data.

The crew also shared views of Earth from orbit. During a live NASA briefing on April 3, pilot Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut assigned to a lunar mission, described the perspective from space. “From here, you all look like one,” he said. “No matter where you are from, we are all Homo sapiens, one humanity.” Commander Reid Wiseman said the sweeping view of Earth, from the Arctic to the Antarctic with auroras visible, prompted all four crew members to pause and take it in.

The mission’s most critical phase is expected on April 6, when Orion begins a close flyby of the moon lasting about six hours from 2:45 p.m. The spacecraft is set to reach its closest point at around 7:02 p.m., passing roughly 6,544 kilometers above the lunar surface. The crew is also expected to observe a solar eclipse as the moon blocks the sun. Using targets selected in advance by lunar science teams, the astronauts will capture high-resolution images of the surface, including areas of the far side never directly observed by humans. Orion will then use the moon’s gravity to enter a figure-eight trajectory before returning to Earth on April 10.

Not all mission elements have proceeded as planned. South Korea’s cube satellite K-RadCube, deployed aboard Artemis II, has failed to establish contact. The Korea AeroSpace Administration said April 5 that attempts to communicate with the satellite through April 4 were unsuccessful. The satellite is expected to lose orbit and reenter Earth’s atmosphere, where it will burn up.

Separately, a government review panel under the Ministry of Science and ICT on April 5 selected a small lunar lander development project for a preliminary feasibility study. The plan envisions a privately led effort covering spacecraft design and landing technology, with the goal of achieving a lunar landing in the early 2030s.


Jae-Hyeng Kim monami@donga.com