> Or to be in that tiny little shuttle orbiting around the moon at what is essentially the height of an airplane flying across the ocean.
Minor correction: the lander was not "orbiting" the moon, the command module was.
Minor correction: the lander was not "orbiting" the moon, the command module was.
> The lowest measured point in the trajectory was 47 400 feet from the lunar surface. Following one revolution in the phasing orbit, about 8 by 194 miles, the lunar module was staged, and the ascent engine was used to perform an insertion maneuver at about 103 hours https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A10_MissionReport.pdf
It never entered a suborbital trajectory. Consequently, it was orbiting the moon and the article is accurate.
An orbit is not defined by height for bodies with negligible atmospheres, it’s defined by velocity and (as a side effect) the apogee and perigee of the trajectory. As long the trajectory never hits the surface, it can be 1/4 of an inch above the highest surface feature under the trajectory and still be an orbit.