Overview
- Orion, which left the Moon’s sphere of influence Tuesday, is tracking a free‑return path for a planned splashdown off California on Friday as recovery forces head to the zone.
- Following Monday’s seven‑hour pass around the Moon’s far side, the crew set a new human‑distance mark at about 252,756 miles and came within roughly 4,067 miles of the surface.
- NASA began releasing about 175 gigabytes of images Tuesday, including Earthset and Earthrise scenes and a rare near‑hour total solar eclipse seen from deep space.
- As Orion slipped behind the Moon the team lost contact for roughly 40 minutes by design, then later made a first‑of‑its‑kind radio call with the International Space Station.
- Scientists are working to verify crew reports of brief flashes on the lunar night side consistent with micrometeoroid impacts using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data.