Here’s my completely uneducated guess. For one, the purpose of the mission is to test technology and systems. We’re not testing orbital entry or a lander, so there’s no need to be as close. Second, and someone way smarter could maybe add on, my guess is that the closer your orbit, the more you need to correct your position, as the ship may be dealing with gravity from both the earth and the moon. So maybe this is just more fuel efficient.
APartyInMyPants t1_iy8nfop wrote
Reply to comment by Raspberries-Are-Evil in Artemis 1 at its furthest point in its moon orbit, about 268,000 miles from earth. by kjpmi
Here’s my completely uneducated guess. For one, the purpose of the mission is to test technology and systems. We’re not testing orbital entry or a lander, so there’s no need to be as close. Second, and someone way smarter could maybe add on, my guess is that the closer your orbit, the more you need to correct your position, as the ship may be dealing with gravity from both the earth and the moon. So maybe this is just more fuel efficient.
And finally, for cool ass selfies like this.