NASA's Orion spacecraft beamed back close-up photos of the moon and Earth on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. The crew capsule and its test dummies will aim for a Pacific Ocean splashdown on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, off the coast of San Diego after a three-week test flight, setting the stage for astronauts on the next flight in a couple years. (NASA via AP)
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Orion capsule is back from the moon.
The capsule made a blisteringly fast return Sunday, parachuting into the Pacific off Mexico to conclude a dramatic 25-day test flight. The mission should clear the way for astronauts on the program’s next lunar flyby, set for 2024.
A Navy ship quickly moved in to recover the spacecraft and its silent occupants — three test dummies. It launched on NASA’s new mega moon rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first flight of NASA’s new Artemis moon program.
Astronauts last landed on the moon 50 years ago Sunday.
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