NASA’S Orion Capsule Just Broke a Historic Apollo-Era Distance Record

NASA’s Orion capsule has now traveled further from Earth than any previous spacecraft designed to carry humans into the hostile environment beyond our planet’s atmosphere. The capsule was launched as part of the Artemis 1 mission, which represents an early step in NASA’s ongoing endeavour to return our species to the surface of the Moon in the next decade.

The previous distance record for a crew worthy spacecraft was held by the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, which was planned to be NASA’s third attempt to land on the Moon. However, during the outbound flight a malfunction caused an oxygen tank to explode, crippling the spacecraft and putting its crew in mortal danger.

This led NASA to abandon the landing attempt, and instead focus all of its efforts on the task of returning the three man crew — which was composed of  astronauts James Lovell, Fred Haise and John Swigert — safely back to Earth.

Apollo 13 went down in history as a successful rescue, during which Lovell and his crew set the distance record for a crewed spaceflight by travelling an incredible 248,655 miles from Earth. 

Unlike the Apollo 13 mission, Artemis 1 is completely uncrewed. This is because NASA’s latest outing is designed to test the Orion capsule to the limit in order to ensure that it can actually protect astronauts during a longhaul flight.

The capsule and its European-made service and propulsion module surpassed Apollo 13’s distance record on the 11th day of the Artemis 1 mission, as the spacecraft travelled in a distant retrograde lunar orbit.

At 3 p.m. CST on November 28, Orion reached the most distant point that it will travel to during its 25 day mission — a staggering 268,563 miles from planet Earth.

“Because of the unbelievable can-do spirit, Artemis I has had extraordinary success and has completed a series of history making events,” commented NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “It’s incredible just how smoothly this mission has gone, but this is a test. That’s what we do – we test it and we stress it.” 

According to NASA, the mission has gone so smoothly to this point that it is contemplating adding a further seven test objectives to the flight that are geared towards reducing the risk to future crews that will fly aboard the capsule.

Orion will remain in its current orbit for a few more days before executing a burn to leave the Moon’s influence and return to Earth on December 1. The mission will conclude in a dramatic re-entry on December 11, during which the capsule’s all important heat shield will be put to its test.

If all goes well, and Orion survives the 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures that are expected during re-entry, then the capsule will splash down safely in the Pacific Ocean to be picked up by recovery crews from NASA and the U.S. Military.

Whilst Artemis 1 may have taken the record for the most distant flight from Earth by a spacecraft designed to carry humans, it’s worth remembering that the crew of Apollo 13 will retain the record for the most distant crewed spaceflight.

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Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer