Due to the length of the orbit, it took the capsule a week to travel halfway around the Moon, after which it exited the Moon’s orbit again and began its return to Earth.

During the flight, Orion was at the greatest distance from Earth of any spacecraft designed for the flight of astronauts. It was about 434,500 kilometers from Earth.

The landing took place near the Mexican island of Guadalupe at 9:40 a.m. local time. The capsule entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 39,400 kilometers per hour and had to withstand heat of almost 2,760 degrees Celsius, according to NASA.

In its dizzying descent, the aircraft was slowed first by the atmosphere, then by a series of 11 parachutes, until it reached a speed of about 30 kilometers per hour when it descended into the ocean.

NASA’s new Artemis space program finally began, after numerous delays, the week before last with the launch of the Orion spacecraft.

The goal of the program is to land American astronauts on the moon again, for the first time in almost 50 years.

The moon landing will be the highlight of the Artemis missions.

Originally planned for 2024, this extremely important event should take place in 2025 at the earliest.

The mission will take four astronauts into lunar orbit in the Orion spacecraft, where two of them – at least one female – will transfer to a SpaceX spacecraft for the final approach to the moon.

The US sent 12 astronauts to the moon between 1969 and 1972.