History may have just repeated itself, but this time might be even better with NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission!
NASA's Orion spacecraft is traveling to the Moon and returning images of Earth that are reminiscent of the "blue marble" photos obtained by Apollo 17 astronauts fifty years ago.
But this time is entirely different for it was not captured by an astronaut. Instead, it was photographed by a robot that was integrated into the Artemis 1 mission's camera equipment.
Orion's Cameras
With the initial launch of NASA's Space Launch System, the round-the-Moon voyage got off to an amazing start. Over the next 25 days, it's expected to pave the way for future crewed missions to the lunar surface.
A camera installed on one of Orion's four solar arrays turned around hours after launch to take a picture of the spacecraft's European-built service module in the foreground against the dark background of space and our partially shadowed planet in the background, as noted by ScienceAlert.
The 16 cameras on Orion are primarily used to track the internal and external performance of the capsule's parts from launch through splashdown. As Orion flies by, the four solar array cameras can capture images of the Moon and Earth.
Images taken during the mission will be different from those seen by humans during the Apollo missions, according to David Melendrez, image integration lead for the Orion Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
However, capturing milestone events like Earthrise, Orion's closest approach to Earth, and a lunar flyby is one of the mission's top priorities.
Read Also: [UPDATE] NASA's Artemis 1: Orion Finally Takes Off to the Moon in Historic Launch
Artemis 1's Second Day
A 25.5-day flight test by NASA's unmanned Orion spacecraft is currently on its second day of travel toward the Moon.
At 6:32 am EST, Orion performed a second outbound trajectory burn employing the auxiliary thrusters on the European Service Module, which will be utilized for most of the trajectory correction burns, according to a recent blog post by NASA.
Teams used the optical navigation camera to take more pictures in addition to turning on the Callisto payload, a technology demonstration from Lockheed Martin in association with Amazon and Cisco.
The voice-activated and visual technology being tested in the Orion cabin's Callisto is intended to help astronauts on future deep space voyages.
On November 16, flight controllers relocated each solar array so that the Integrated Communications Officer, or INCO, could test the WiFi transfer rate between the camera on the solar array panels' tip and the camera controller.
The objective was to ascertain the most effective location for transferring imaging files, as per the space agency.
The overall cost of the project since its inception in 2017 is more than $40 billion. NASA's main goal will be to build a space station and a lunar base camp to prioritize human space flight and maintain a permanent presence on the Moon.
Related Article: NASA's Artemis 1 Moon Mission Will Be Flying With Strange Passengers - Dummies and MORE!
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Written by Jace Dela Cruz
