Orion, a space capsule with a dummy inside, passed as close as possible to the Moon the day before and continued to move
What is known
November 21 at 14:0044 (EET), the spacecraft flew 129 km from the Moon, although previously there was information that the distance between the capsule and the satellite would be 97 km. As planned, this happened about 5 days and 6 hours after the launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Orion approached the far side of the Moon, which is not visible from Earth.
For rapprochement, the ship turned off the marchingengine, and after the distance decreased to 129 km, it began to move away from the surface of the satellite of our planet. Since the spacecraft was on the far side of the Moon, all processes were performed automatically.
The goal of Orion is to reach the far orbit of the Moon.If all goes according to plan, the task will be completed on November 25th. The capsule will remain in deep orbit with the engine off until December 1st. The first mission of the Artemis lunar program, which started on November 16, should end on December 11 with the landing of the ship in the Pacific Ocean. If successful, the Artemis II mission will start in 2024, in which the spacecraft will fly around the moon, but with a crew instead of a dummy.