Artemis team preps for Orion orbit departure

NASA held an Artemis I mission status briefing Wednesday to preview Orion's distant retrograde orbit departure on Dec. 1 and recovery assets preparations for Dec. 11 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

On Monday, Orion reached its maximum distance from the Earth.The Artemis team says they have been able to add more objectives to the return leg of the mission.The capsule and its three test dummies entered lunar orbit more than a week after launching on the $4 billion demo that's meant to pave the way for astronauts.

NASA considers this a dress rehearsal for the next moon flyby in 2024, with astronauts. A lunar landing by astronauts could follow as soon as 2025.Astronauts last visited the moon 50 years ago during Apollo 17.