The Artemis 1 Orion capsule has broken the existing flight record for the farthest distance any spacecraft designed to carry humans have traveled on Saturday.
According to Engadget, the Orion broke the previous record set by Apollo 13 Odyssey in 1970 by flying 249,666 miles (401,798 kilometers) from Earth.
The Orion Is Expected To Fly Even Further From The Earth To The Moon
In 1970, the Apollo 13 mission recorded an Earth-to-Moon distance of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers, but on Monday, the Artemis 1 mission exceeded that distance.
Launched to the Moon's distant retrograde orbit, which is a really huge one with a high altitude, the Orion spacecraft was able to reach a distance that has never been reached before.
During this flyby, engineers also completed the first orbital maintenance burn by launching auxiliary thrusters on the Orion's service module to propel the spacecraft further.
The orbital maintenance burns executed for the spacecraft are expected to fine tune Orion's trajectory as it continues its journey around the Moon's orbit.
Tech Times writes that Orion's course will continuously be adjusted through the rest of its mission with scheduled orbital maintenance burns.
With this, the Artemis 1's Orion is expected to reach even further into the Moon's orbit for as much as 470,000 miles (756,392 kilometers) from Earth during its mission.
The spacecraft is going to be stationed in the distant retrograde orbit for six days before leaving the Moon's orbit to return to Earth on December 11, Sunday.
However, the flight record is not the only connection Orion has with the Odyssey as the Artemis 1 space capsule is flying with an instrumental mannequin named Commander Moonikin Campos.
This mannequin is named after the late Arturo Campos who wrote the emergency procedures to transfer power from the Apollo 13 module batteries to the command module, Collect Space says.
Commander Moonikins Campos is used by the Artemis 1 mission to measure the radiation exposure and stress the future crew could experience when they fly to the Moon.
Read More: NASA's Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft Successfully Moves Into The Moon's Orbit
What Is Next For The Artemis 1 Mission
According to Republic World, the Orion is currently on day 12 of its mission, and is now in the distant retrograde orbit.
In about three days, NASA says that the space capsule will cover half the distance retrograde orbit while the space agency tests its durability deep in space.
They are monitoring Orion's propulsion systems, communication and navigation systems, systems and features, and heat shields.
After this, the Artemis 1 mission is set to deliver astronauts back to the Moon, and then to Mars, using what they learned from the lunar mission.
However, Tech Times reports that at the moment, Orion does not have a lunar lander that will allow a touchdown on the Moon's surface until 2025.
Meanwhile, the first astronaut mission since Apollo will take place in 2024 via Artemis 2, where a crew will pilot the Orion around the Moon.
Related Article: NASA Successfully Launches Artemis 1 To Its Historic Moon Mission
