Over the past few days, astronauts have left Earth's orbit, entered the Moon's gravitational sphere, and continued on a trajectory that has taken them to the farthest distance humans have ever reached—more than 400,000 kilometers from Earth—surpassing the record set by the Apollo 13 mission. They performed two significant maneuvers around the Moon and are now on their way back home.
A key moment of the mission occurred as they passed behind the Moon, when the Orion capsule entered the so-called "dark side," the part not visible from Earth. 🌞🌕🧑🚀 Right now, the Orion capsule is passing behind the Moon, so the Sun is entirely eclipsed from their perspective. During this time, they will view a mostly darkened Moon and will use the opportunity to analyze the solar corona. pic.twitter.com/PWDPfZKxGh
"We love you from the Moon to Earth," was said from Orion, followed by a loss of signal. During this period, the crew remained completely isolated, spending time observing the Moon's surface, photographing craters, and analyzing geological structures, which is one of the important objectives of this mission in preparation for future Moon landings.