Nasa’s capsule arrives at moon
NASA’S Orion capsule has passed within 80 miles of the moon in the final big stage ahead of its recordbreaking lunar orbit.
The close approach occurred as the crew capsule and its three test dummies passed on the far side of the moon during a slingshot manoeuvre.
Because of a half-hour communication blackout, flight controllers in Houston did not know if the critical engine firing went well until the capsule emerged from behind the moon, more than 232,000 miles from Earth.
It is the first time a capsule has visited the moon since Nasa’s Apollo programme 50 years ago, and represented a huge milestone in the 4.1 billion dollar (£3.1 billion) test flight that began last Wednesday.