Moon flight nearing distance record

Nasa’s Orion capsule has entered an orbit stretching tens of thousands of kilometres around the Moon, as it nears the halfway mark of its test flight.

The capsule and its three test dummies have entered lunar orbit more than a week after launching on a mission meant to pave the way for astronauts to return to the Moon.

It will remain in the broad, stable orbit for nearly a week, completing just half a lap before slingshotting itself around the Moon and heading home.

Nasa considers the mission a dress rehearsal for the next Moon flyby in 2024, with astronauts. A lunar landing could follow as soon as 2025.

Orion’s orbit is some 64,000 to 80,000km above the lunar surface. It places the capsule on a path to break the record for the farthest distance from Earth travelled by ‘‘a spacecraft designed to carry humans to deep space and safely return to Earth’’. The cur- rent record of 400,171km was set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

The spacecraft is expected to reach its maximum distance of more than 435,000km from Earth on Tuesday.

The distant orbit, which requires little fuel to maintain, will allow Orion to test its systems to see how the vehicle performs.

‘‘It’s about challenging ourselves to

go farther, stay longer and push beyond the limits of what we’ve previously explored,’’ said Jim Geffre, a Nasa Orion manager.

The flight is the first step in Nasa’s Artemis programme, which seeks to return astronauts to the lunar surface

for the first time since the Apollo missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Orion spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego on December 11.