On flight day 13, November 28 just after 22:00 CET (21:00 GMT), Orion reached the farthest distance from Earth during the Artemis I mission when it was 432 210 km away from our home planet. Orion and its European Service Module has now travelled farther than any other spacecraft built for humans.

Earth seen passing behind the Moon.

28 November also marked the halfway point of the Artemis I mission, with Orion in a good state as it continues its journey in its six-day part orbit of the Moon.

“Because of the unbelievable can-do spirit, Artemis I has had extraordinary success and has completed a series of history making events,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “It’s incredible just how smoothly this mission has gone, but this is a test. That’s what we do – we test it and we stress it.”

Engineers had originally planned an orbital maintenance burn but determined it was not necessary because of Orion’s already precise trajectory in distant retrograde orbit. Based on Orion’s performance, managers are considering adding seven additional test objectives to further characterise the spacecraft’s temperature control and propulsion system before flying future missions with astronauts. Flight controllers have accomplished or are in the process of completing 37.5% of the test objectives associated with the mission, with many remaining objectives set to be evaluated during entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery.

European Service Module for Orion overview

A team that was setup to investigate readings of the spacecraft’s star trackers was closed after concluding the hardware is performing as expected — initially suspect readings are a byproduct of the flight environment.  

Flight controllers also have completed 9 of 19 translational burns and used the three types of engines on Orion – the main engine, auxiliary thrusters, and reaction control system thrusters. Approximately 2558 kg of propellant has been used, which is about 68 kg less than expected before launch. The European Service Module has 907 kg of propellant reserve beyond what teams plan to use for the mission, an increase of more than 54 kg from prelaunch expected values.

Just before 02:00 CET (01:00 GMT) 29 November, Orion was 432 040 km from Earth and 6942k km from the Moon, cruising at just over 2700 km/h.