Overview
- Orion’s crewed capsule, which completed final trajectory tweaks and suit checks Monday, is on track for a close pass that takes the astronauts farther from Earth than anyone before.
- The closest approach is planned at roughly 6,500 to 6,550 kilometers from the lunar surface during the far‑side arc when Earth contact is blocked by the Moon.
- Mission control confirmed a 30‑target observation plan that includes the Orientale Basin and the Hertzsprung Basin for direct human viewing under changing light.
- The spacecraft is expected to reach about 405,000 kilometers from Earth shortly after the flyby, surpassing the Apollo 13 mark of about 400,000 kilometers set in 1970.
- The four‑person crew—commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will also witness a solar eclipse from their vantage point as their observation window concludes.