Artemis 1: After successful mission, NASA's Orion spacecraft heads home to Earth

On Monday, NASA's Orion spacecraft made a close approach to the Moon and used gravity to propel itself back towards Earth, kicking off the Artemis-1 mission's return journey.

The unmanned capsule flew less than 80 miles from the surface at its closest point, testing manoeuvres that will be used in future Artemis missions that will return humans to the rocky celestial body. Communication with the capsule was cut off for 30 minutes when it passed behind the Moon's far side, which is more cratered than the near side and was first seen by humans during the Apollo missions, though they did not land there.

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The European Service Module, which powers the capsule, fired its main engine for more than three minutes to send the Orion back home on Earth.

Debbie Korth, the Orion Program deputy manager said, "We couldn't be more pleased about how the spacecraft is performing". Once the communication was restore and Orion's footage flashed on their screens, she described the team's feelings in a news conference, "everybody in the room, we just kind of had to stop and pause, and just really look. Wow, we're saying goodbye to the moon."

On Monday, the Orion spaceship made the last manoeuver which began on 16 November from Florida. The entire journey of NASA's Moon SLS rocket should last 25 and a half days. Orion will slash down into the Pacific Ocean offf San Diego on Sunday, 11 December at 0:40 am local time. It will be then recovered by a US Naval Ship and hosited aboard.

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Orion broke the distance record for a habitable capsule a week ago by travelling 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometres) from Earth. According to Mike Sarafin, the Artemis mission manager, Orion will have travelled more than 1.4 million miles once it returns to Earth.

Re-entry into Earth's atmosphere will put the spacecraft's heat shield to the test, as it will have to withstand temperatures of around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,800 degrees Celsius),or roughly half the surface of the Sun.