NASA’s Orion Capsule Splashes Down in Pacific, Completing Unmanned Mission to Moon Orbit
This photo provided by NASA shows the Orion capsule coming back from the moon. The capsule made a blisteringly fast return Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, parachuting into the Pacific off Mexico to conclude a dramatic 25-day test flight. The mission should clear the way for astronauts on the program’s next lunar flyby, set for 2024. 
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Orion spacecraft has successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off California’s coast, completing the first uncrewed test flight around the Moon, according to NASA’s livestream.The capsule splashed down 480 kilometers (300 miles) off San Diego at 12:40 ET (17:40 GMT).”Splashdown… Orion back on Earth,” NASA’s livestream announcer said.In the next minutes and hours, NASA specialists will recover the capsule and transport it to the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA will analyze the data collected over the 25-day mission in preparation for future crewed missions.The unmanned Artemis 1 mission is key step toward NASA’s goal of crewed lunar flights of the Orion spacecraft, with the first of them, Artemis 2, scheduled to launch in 2024. Artemis 2 is expected to be the first manned lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, which is the most recent time people landed on the Moon.
