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Raspberries-Are-Evil t1_iy8d671 wrote

Whats the reasoning for such a far away orbit of the Moon? It should only be a 2.5 day transit time from Earth to Moon.

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APartyInMyPants t1_iy8nfop wrote

Here’s my completely uneducated guess. For one, the purpose of the mission is to test technology and systems. We’re not testing orbital entry or a lander, so there’s no need to be as close. Second, and someone way smarter could maybe add on, my guess is that the closer your orbit, the more you need to correct your position, as the ship may be dealing with gravity from both the earth and the moon. So maybe this is just more fuel efficient.

And finally, for cool ass selfies like this.

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Joe_Huxley t1_iy8f6uu wrote

Stability of the orbit I believe. The moon has some weird geological quirks that make up close orbits go askew over time.

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kjpmi OP t1_iy8f1cp wrote

Good question. I would like to know too. Its moon orbit is larger than Apollo orbits were. But I don’t know why.

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nworb200 t1_iy8vp7n wrote

Orion and it’s service module have less delta v capability. It just doesn’t carry enough fuel to enter and exit low lunar orbit

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[deleted] t1_iy8mrrz wrote

[deleted]

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fireatthecircus t1_iy8owo3 wrote

It—the Orion Capsule—IS definitely currently orbiting the moon. Neat link though, thanks.

“Orion performed an 88-second engine burn Friday…that successfully inserted the spacecraft into a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around the moon as planned.”

“The capsule will leave lunar orbit with an engine burn on Dec. 1, then start heading home to Earth.”

https://www.space.com/artemis-1-orion-arrive-orbit-moon

EDIT: Parent comment nope'd out. Neat link they posted that i mentioned above (visualizes mission progress/trajectory): https://www.nasa.gov/specials/trackartemis/

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