NASA's Orion makes its closest approach to moon
STORY: Date: December 5, 2022
This is the closest approach to the moon for a spacecraft built to carry humans
since Apollo 17 flew half a century ago
NASA's Artemis I mission sailed within 80 miles of the lunar surface
The flyby came a week after Orion reached its farthest point in space
nearly 270,000 miles from Earth while midway through its 25-day mission
The much-delayed and highly anticipated launch of Orion last month
kicked off Apollo's successor program Artemis
aimed at returning astronauts to the lunar surface this decade
and establishing a sustainable base there as a stepping stone to future human exploration of Mars