Far side of the Moon

Picture of the Moon taken on flight day six of the Artemis I mission from the Orion spacecraft optical navigation camera.

At 13:44 CET (12:44 GMT) on 21 November 2022 the Artemis spacecraft Orion powered its main thruster on the European Service Module to slingshot around the Moon, just five days after liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.

The European Service Module is powering Orion around the Moon and back, providing propulsion, temperature control, electricity as well as storage and delivery for essential supplies such as fuel, water and air. This first Artemis mission is an uncrewed test mission, putting the spacecraft through its paces preparing to send astronauts forward to the Moon.

The goal of the Artemis I mission is to stress-test the mission profile, the spacecraft, and the people operating it in preparation for flights with astronauts.