NASA’s Orion capsule finally arrived at the moon on Monday morning, marking a significant milestone in the agency’s Artemis program to bring astronauts back to the lunar surface. The spacecraft flew roughly 80 miles above the lunar surface, passing over the landing sites of the Apollo 11, 12, and 14 missions. “This is one of those days that you’ve been thinking about and dreaming about for a long, long time,” NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville said in a livestream of the flyby. He later added, “This morning we just saw the Earth set behind the moon as we take the next human-rated vehicle around the moon, preparing to bring humans back there within a few years. This is a game changer.” The capsule was launched into space last Wednesday aboard NASA’s SLS rocket, which saw severaldelays until it finally took off. Now Orion will spend nearly a month orbiting the moon before heading back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.
