A close-up of the Moon: Artemis 1's Orion spacecraft captures closest images of the lunar body

NASA's Orion spacecraft has sent back close-up pictures of the Moon as the Artemis 1 mission made its closest approach to the lunar body. NASA informed in its post that the black and white images were captured by Orion's onboard optical navigation system on day sixof the mission. It takes pictures of the Earth and Moon in various phases and distances, NASA said.

This was the first time that such close images of the Moon were snapped by a "human-rated vessel since Apollo - 80 mi (128 km) above the lunar surface, NASA's post said. TheApollo program had ended in 1975.

"Orion also passed over the landing spots from Apollo 11, 12, and 14 and is on its way toward a distant retrograde orbit, a high-altitude orbit that moves Orion in the opposite direction that the Moon travels around Earth," it further said.

The Orion will insert the capsule into a high orbit around the moon on Friday, a critical step in the mission. After performing its duties, the spacecraft will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast on December 11.

Artemis I is an uncrewed mission and aims to test NASA's Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft before it sends humans to the Moon in future. If this mission is successful, NASA will then conduct a human trip around the moon in 2024, which will be known as Artemis II.

(With inputs from agencies)