The NASA Orion spacecraft returns to Earth on Sunday after a nearly month-long journey that sent it around the moon. Orion is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean Sunday at around 12:40 p.m. ET. off the coast of San Diego.
The spacecraft, part of NASA's Artemis I mission, returns to Earth after conducting a powered flyby of the moon. The flyby used lunar gravity to help assist Orion toward the Earth.
During the Artemis I mission, Orion set the distance record for a mission with a spacecraft designed to carry humans to deep space and back to Earth. At its maximum, Orion was 270,000 miles from Earth.
While Orion is unmanned, it could sustain a crew in orbit around the moon for up to 21 days. It could also run autonomously around the moon for six months.
This mission sets the stage for Artemis II in 2024, including a crew.
Since this flight is in preparation for a crewed mission to the moon, NASA included three mannequins inside Orion.
With its intended goal to eventually send mankind to Mars, NASA is looking to inspire the next generation of astronauts in the same fashion Apollo did in the 60s and 70s.
“I'm a product of the Apollo generation and look what it did for us. And I cannot wait to see what comes from the Artemis generation because I think it's going to inspire even more than Apollo did,” Bob Cabana, the associate administrator for NASA Headquarters, said