Orion capsule returns to Earth after 25 days traveling around the moon

The Orion capsule reached the Moon five days after starting its journey and splashed down into the ocean on Sunday after a 25-day unmanned test flight around the Moon.

The lunar spacecraft splashed down west of Baja California, successfully concluding a mission that paves the way for the Space Agency's next lunar mission, Artemis II, scheduled for 2024. Four crew members will go on the next trip. In 2025, two people are scheduled to land on the moon in the Artemis III mission.

After the capsule splashed down near Guadalupe Island, a Navy ship moved quickly to retrieve the craft and its occupants: three test dummies equipped with vibration sensors and radiation monitors.

Orion traveled a total of 1.4 million miles. It then entered a wide orbit and plunged for a week until it reached Earth. It came within 80 miles of the Moon on two occasions.

Orion: the first spacecraft to visit the Moon since 1972

Orion was the first spacecraft to visit the Moon after the astronauts from Apollo 17, the first Artemis mission, landed on the moon December 11, 1972. They were the last twelve people to set foot on the Moon.