NASA says the Artemis II mission is proceeding as planned after a key engine burn pushed its crewed Orion spacecraft out of Earth orbit and onto a path to the moon.
About 115 miles above Earth on Thursday evening, one of Orion’s engines fired for 5 minutes and 50 seconds in a translunar injection burn that broke the capsule free from orbital flight and sent it toward a lunar flyby — a journey humans have not attempted in more than half a century.
“We are definitely, 100% on our way to the moon,” mission commander Reid Wiseman said in a downlink from the spacecraft a few hours after the burn. “There is nothing normal about this. Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that.”
The new trajectory will use the moon’s gravity to sling the capsule around the far side and return it to Earth, with splashdown expected in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego in about eight days. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, speaking to Mission Control minutes after the maneuver, praised the global effort behind Artemis II: “Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of. It’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon.”
Officials report only minor issues so far. A slight problem with the water dispensing system led the crew to bag water as a precaution, and a cabin pressurization leak warning briefly sounded before the burn. Ground controllers determined the pressure and temperature in the cabin were stable, and flight director Judd Frieling called the alarm a false indication. Hansen said the alert got the crew’s attention but did not force any change in plans.
“Things are going really well,” NASA planetary scientist Lori Glaze said, adding that mission teams were not tracking any issues of concern. She emphasized that Artemis II remains a test flight designed to evaluate capsule systems and procedures with people aboard so that false alarms and other anomalies can be understood and managed before routine lunar missions resume.
Artemis II carries four astronauts — Wiseman, Hansen, Christina Koch and Victor Glover — on a pioneering mission to reestablish human travel beyond low Earth orbit after the Apollo era. As the spacecraft speeds toward the moon, the crew has expressed a mix of disbelief and elation at having reached this milestone.