NASA capsule flies over Apollo landing sites, heads home

NASA’s Orion capsule and its test dummies swooped one last time around the moon Monday, flying over a couple of Apollo landing sites before heading home, AP reported.

Orion will aim for a Pacific splashdown Sunday off San Diego, setting the stage for astronauts on the next flight in a couple of years.

The capsule passed within 130 kilometers of the far side of the moon, using lunar gravity as a slingshot for the 380,000-kilometer ride back to Earth. It spent a week in a wide, sweeping lunar orbit.

Once emerging from behind the moon and regaining communication with flight controllers in Houston, Orion beamed back photos of a close-up moon and a crescent Earth — Earthrise — in the distance.

“Orion now has its sights set on home,” said Mission Control commentator Sandra Jones.

The capsule also passed over the landing sites of Apollo 12 and 14. But at 1,900 kilometers up, it was too high to make out the descent stages of the lunar landers or anything else left behind by astronauts more than a half-century ago. During a similar flyover two weeks ago, it was too dark for pictures. This time, it was daylight.

Deputy chief flight director Zebulon Scoville said nearby craters and other geologic features would be visible in pictures, but little else.