Photos: A look at Orion, NASA’s new moon mission, and the first since Apollo 17
Orion has become the first capsule to visit the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972, launching on NASA's new mega moon rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on November 16. It was the first flight of NASA's new Artemis moon program, named after Apollo's mythological twin sister. On December 11, NASA's Orion capsule made a blisteringly return from the moon, parachuting into the Pacific off Mexico to conclude a test flight that should clear the way for astronauts on the next lunar flyby.
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NASA's Orion capsule is drawn to the well deck of the U.S.S. Portland after it splashed down following a successful uncrewed Artemis I Moon Mission on December 11 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. (Mario Tama / REUTERS)
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Video feeds displayed after NASA's Orion capsule was brought into the well deck of the U.S.S. Portland following a successful uncrewed Artemis I Moon Mission, seen from aboard the Portland on December 11. The incoming capsule hit the atmosphere at Mach 32, or 32 times the speed of sound, and endured reentry temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) before splashing down west of Baja California near Guadalupe Island, AP reported.(Mario Tama / REUTERS)
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An Air Force member releases a weather balloon off the deck of the U.S.S. Portland (LPD 27) as part of the recovery operation for the Orion capsule off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, on December 11. A Navy ship quickly moved in to recover the spacecraft and its silent occupants — three test dummies rigged with vibration sensors and radiation monitors.(Caroline Brehman / REUTERS)
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NASA's Orion Capsule descends toward splash down after a successful uncrewed Artemis I Moon Mission on December 11.(Mario Tama / REUTERS)
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