Hours after blasting off atop the massive Space Launch System (SLS) for the first time on Wednesday morning, the Orion capsule sent back to NASA its first photo - a stunning glimpse of our planet at a distance rarely seen.
According to NASA’s Twitter page for Orion, the photo was taken roughly 58,000 miles above Earth’s surface, or one-fifth the distance to Orion’s ultimate target: the moon. The photo was snapped using a “selfie stick” and partially shows Orion’s hull and solar panels.
By comparison, the International Space Station orbits the Earth at just 250 miles up.
Despite appearances in the second image, taken from a live feed on an internal camera, the mission is unmanned. The empty space suit is a placeholder for what will one day be one of four crew members on a moonbound mission; NASA engineers have named the mannequin “Commander Moonikin Campos.”
"This view of Earth captured from a human-rated spacecraft not seen since 1972 during the final Apollo mission some 50 years ago," NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said of the photo during a live broadcast. "The views of our blue marble in the blackness of space now capturing the imagination of a new generation - the Artemis generation."
Artemis 1 is the first mission of the Artemis program, and will consist of a 25-day mission to travel 40,000 miles beyond the moon, orbiting the natural satellite for six days before returning to Earth. The flight is designed to test out all its essential systems and capabilities, including the safety of the heat shield that will protect it during the 25,000-degree Fahrenheit reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
A catastrophic failure of the Space Shuttle Columbia’s heat shield during reentry in 2003 killed seven astronauts and helped spell the beginning of the end of the Space Shuttle program.
Following Artemis 1, the Artemis 2 mission is expected to carry a human crew in orbit around the Earth and the moon, but will not land on the moon. Artemis 3 will take two astronauts to the moon and lay the groundwork for a future “gateway” base, which astronauts will be able to use when exploring the lunar surface or preparing for trips into deeper space, such as to Mars.
Other nations have also stepped up their space programs in recent years, including sending unmanned probes to the moon, such as China’s Chang’e missions.