NASA Orion spacecraft advances with lunar imaging and magnetic shield research

NASA's Artemis 2 mission successfully guided the Orion crew module around the Moon’s far side, capturing high‑resolution photographs despite a communications blackout. The INCO team transmitted nearly 300 precise commands to operate external cameras, video, audio and laser‑optical links, restoring voice contact about 40 minutes after the eclipse and receiving image files the following day.

Separately, researchers in Italy and Germany modeled a permanent‑magnet shield for Orion using a 1‑square‑metre array of 1,482 neodymium‑iron‑boron cubes weighing less than 300 kg. Simulations indicated the system could deflect roughly 20 % of low‑energy solar particles (0.1–10 MeV), reducing radiation exposure during solar storms, though it offers little protection against high‑energy galactic cosmic rays and may generate secondary radiation when struck by energetic protons.