NASA spaceship beams back really eerie images of the moon

The impact crater on the moon can stay for billions of years.

Unlike Earth, our lunar satellite has no weather to wash away the collision, or to cover the surface in new rock. Detailed images of the moon's cratered ground have recently been captured by NASA's new, uncrewed mission to test the capsule's spaceflight abilities. These pictures were released by the space agency.

The black and white images were taken with the optical navigation camera of the capsule. "Orion uses the optical navigation camera to capture imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances, providing an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness under different lighting conditions as a way to help orient the spacecraft on future missions with crew."

Some of the images were taken above the surface. There are a lot of pictures of the moon in a barren desert. Water ice is a necessary resource for future deep space missions and NASA suspects some of the satellite's craters have it.

NASA's Orion spacecraft captured new images of the lunar surface. Credit: NASA

As NASA's Orion spacecraft flew by the moon on the sixth day of its mission, it captured views of the deeply cratered lunar surface. Credit: NASA

As NASA's Orion spacecraft flew by the moon on the sixth day of its mission, it captured views of the deeply cratered lunar surface. Credit: NASA

Orion's view of the moon with the blackness of space behind it. Credit: NASA

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One day, the capsule will carry up to six astronauts, and there are some major benchmarks to be reached. NASA will fire the engines of the spaceship and send it into a retrograde path that will take it 50,000 miles away from the moon. It will go around the moon for over a week. After leaving the moon's gravity, Orion will return to Earth.

On December 11th, the uncrewed craft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean. If the mission goes well, astronauts may fly aboard the spaceship in the early part of the 20th century. The timeline is ambitious and will likely be pushed back, but there is a chance that astronauts will step foot on the moon as soon as 25 years from now.

They want to establish a permanent presence on the moon. NASA would like to stay.