Artemis II fires engines, heads toward Moon after orbit phase
What's the story
NASA's Artemis II mission has crossed a major milestone, with the crew firing the engines of the Orion spacecraft to head toward the Moon. The event, called translunar ignition, took place 25 hours after liftoff from Earth. It was the first engine firing by a space crew since Apollo 17's last moonshot in December 1972. The Orion capsule left Earth's orbit as planned and is now on its way to the Moon, nearly 400,000km away.
Mission details
Artemis II crew to fly past the Moon
The Artemis II mission is a precursor to NASA's ambitious plans for establishing a lunar base and long-term habitation on the Moon. The crew, led by Commander Reid Wiseman and Pilot Victor Glover, includes Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. They will fly past the Moon before making a U-turn and heading straight back home without landing on the lunar surface. This will make them the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, surpassing Apollo 13's record set in 1970.
Crew achievements
Firsts for the Artemis II crew
The Artemis II crew has already made history as the first Black, woman, and non-US citizen to launch to the Moon. Apollo's 24 lunar travelers were all white men. Mission Control woke up the crew with John Legend's Green Light featuring Andre 3000 and a medley of NASA teams cheering them on before their engine firing. Koch responded, "With this burn to the Moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it."
Upcoming events
Next major milestone on Monday
The next major milestone for the Artemis II mission will be a lunar flyby on Monday. The Orion capsule will zoom 6,400km beyond the Moon before turning back, giving unprecedented views of the lunar far side. The crew also got to see Earth from tens of thousands of miles high while waiting for their orbital departure earlier Thursday. Koch said they could see entire coastlines of continents and even South Pole from their vantage point.
Mission hurdles
Technical challenges on the way to Moon
The Artemis II mission has also faced some technical challenges. The Orion capsule's toilet malfunctioned as soon as the crew reached orbit on Wednesday night. Mission Control guided Koch through some plumbing tricks to get it working, but not before using contingency urine storage bags. There was also a valve issue with the capsule's dispenser after liftoff, prompting NASA to have the crew fill empty bags with water from this dispenser for drinking purposes.