It’s official, folks: Following a successful TLI last night, Artemis 2 is on its way to the Moon. The nearly 6-minute engine firing burned about 1,000 pounds of fuel and set Orion on a trajectory that will swing the spacecraft around the lunar far side and naturally return it to Earth in about a week.
With that critical step complete, NASA’s lunar science team began formulating its Lunar Targeting Plan. The Artemis 2 crew will use this guide to help them observe the Moon’s surface during the approximately six-hour close fly-by on Monday.
The astronauts will document far side features such as craters, ancient lava flows, cracks, and ridges to help scientists understand how the Moon and early solar system formed. They will also observe a solar eclipse, which will last about an hour toward the end of the flyby window as the Moon blocks the Sun from Orion’s view.
With the lunar far side shrouded in darkness during the eclipse, the crew will get a chance to look for flashes of light caused by meteoroids striking the Moon’s surface. It will also be easier to see dust lofting above the edge of the Moon, far-off planets, and the solar corona.
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