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NASA’s Orion capsule is circling the moon in an orbit stretching tens of thousands of kilometres in a dress rehearsal for the next lunar flyby with astronauts.
NASA Orion in far-flung orbit around moon
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 entered lunar orbit more than a week after launching on the $US4 billion ($A5.9 billion) demo that’s meant to pave the way for astronauts.
It will remain in this broad but stable orbit for almost a week, completing just half a lap before heading home.
As of Friday’s engine firing, the capsule was 380,000km from Earth.
