Washington, April 10 (IANS). NASA has announced a major achievement in the field of human space flight. On Friday, NASA said that its Artemis-II mission was successfully launched on April 1 and has now reached the final leg of its historic journey.
Giving information on social media platform X, NASA said that the spacecraft has revolved around the Moon and is now returning to Earth. Its ocean landing (splashdown) is expected to occur in the Pacific Ocean at approximately 8:07 pm (ET) on April 10.
NASA said in its message that they look forward to welcoming astronauts back to Earth.
The mission is the talk of the town as it marks humanity’s return to exploring deep space beyond low Earth orbit, after more than five decades. According to NASA, this mission is the longest distance astronauts have ever covered, which will pave the way for future missions to the Moon.
Earlier during the mission, the four-member crew set a new record by traveling 248,655 miles above Earth. This team included Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. At the farthest point of their journey they reached approximately 252,756 miles. This achievement has even surpassed the record of the first Apollo-13 mission.
According to officials, this 10-day mission is designed to test the deep space capability of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. This also included a flyby of the Moon, a vital step for future missions.
NASA official Dr. Lori Glaze said that this success shows that the agency is committed to continuously pushing new boundaries and making new discoveries in space. Jeremy Hanson from the Orion spacecraft said that this achievement honors the legacy of past astronauts and also ushers in a new era of space exploration.
The Artemis-II mission is being considered an important step towards NASA’s larger goal, which includes establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon.
–IANS
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