Artemis 1: NASA's Orion ready for first flyby past Moon on Nov 21; where to watch live?

About five days after its launch, the Orion spacecraft is all set to make its first lunar flyby on November 21. The spacecraft launched atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on November 16 at 12:17 pm IST from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for Artemis 1, the uncrewed mission that marks the beginning of the Artemis Program. 

Orion, meanwhile, is nearing the completion of its lunar journey and will make its closest approach to the Moon at 6:27 pm IST and get as close as 130 km from the lunar surface. The spacecraft even sent its first selfie taken using the cameras attached to its solar array panels. 

Where to watch Orion's flyby live?

NASA will provide live coverage of Orion's lunar flyby on the NASA app, NASA TV, its YouTube channel, and other official social media handles. You can also watch the spacecraft skim over the lunar surface by tuning in to the agency's official website. Although, it is worth noting that Orion will be on the opposite side of the Moon during its closest approach, meaning it would not be visible from Earth. The spacecraft, however, will beam pictures collected from its flyby later on. 

A timeline of forthcoming events

NASA says the mission teams will execute a burn at 6:14 pm by firing Orion's thrusters to adjust its path around the Moon. Notably, Orion will lose communication with ground controllers between 5:55 pm during a blackout, due to the spacecraft's position behind the Moon, which will continue till 6:29 pm (two minutes after the closest approach). 

According to the agency, this flyby would prepare Orion for entering the distant retrograde orbit (DRO) which is an orbit in the direction opposite to the Moon's spin. After Orion’s entry into the lunar sphere of influence, the Moon will become the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft instead of the Earth. As shown in the animation above, the outbound powered flyby burn will harness the force from the Moon’s gravity to accelerate the spacecraft toward the DRO. 

On November 18, NASA released a report following an inspection of the Moon-bound Orion and found the spacecraft working better than expected. "Today, we met to review the Orion spacecraft performance, and it is exceeding performance expectations,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager, in an official statement. Ahead of the flyby, the teams also conducted an external inspection of Orion's thermal protection system, Wi-Fi system, and 'Star trackers' which measure the position of stars for proper alignment of the spacecraft, and everything seems to be working fine.