Artemis II Crew Heads to Moon After Successful Translunar Injection Burn on Flight Day 2

HOUSTON — NASA’s Artemis II mission hit a major milestone Thursday as the four-person crew aboard the Orion spacecraft successfully completed the critical translunar injection burn, sending them out of Earth orbit and on a trajectory toward the Moon for the first time in more than five decades.

The burn, which lasted five minutes and 50 seconds, began at 7:49 p.m. EDT after mission managers in Houston polled “Go” for the maneuver. Orion’s main engine, powered by the European Service Module, fired flawlessly, accelerating the spacecraft to escape velocity and committing the astronauts to a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth.

Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen are now hurtling through space at nearly 40,000 kilometers per hour (about 25,000 mph) on their approximately 10-day test flight. The mission, launched Wednesday evening atop NASA’s powerful Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marks the first crewed journey beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Flight controllers confirmed the burn’s success shortly after completion, with Orion now on course for a lunar flyby expected early next week. At closest approach, the crew will pass roughly 4,000 to 6,000 miles (6,400 to 9,700 kilometers) from the lunar surface, skimming past the far side before the Moon’s gravity slings them back toward home. The spacecraft is projected to reach a maximum distance of more than 230,000 miles from Earth, surpassing the record set by Apollo 13.

Earlier on Flight Day 2, the crew focused on routine but essential tasks while still in high Earth orbit. Wiseman and Glover started their day by setting up and checking out Orion’s flywheel exercise device, completing the mission’s first workouts to help maintain muscle and bone density in microgravity. Koch and Hansen followed with their own exercise sessions later in the day. These activities also served as an important test of the spacecraft’s life support systems ahead of the long journey.

Koch spent part of her morning preparing the vehicle for the translunar injection burn, configuring systems on the European-built service module that provides propulsion, power and thermal control for Orion. The crew also continued monitoring spacecraft health, communicating with Mission Control and acclimating to the weightless environment after their dramatic launch the previous evening.

Launch on April 1 occurred at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B, with the SLS delivering more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The rocket performed flawlessly through its major phases: solid rocket booster separation, core stage burnout and separation, and interim cryogenic propulsion stage operations. Orion’s solar array wings fully deployed shortly after spacecraft separation, locking into place and beginning to generate power.

The crew spent much of Flight Day 1 becoming familiar with Orion — nicknamed “Integrity” — checking life support systems, practicing manual piloting and conducting a proximity operations demonstration. They maneuvered close to the spent upper stage, approaching within about 10 meters (33 feet) in a rehearsal of future docking maneuvers needed for Artemis missions that will land astronauts on the lunar surface.

NASA officials described the early mission as proceeding smoothly, with only minor, non-critical issues noted and quickly resolved. “This is a flight test,” one NASA leader emphasized during a post-launch briefing, adding that true success will be declared only when the crew safely splashes down in the Pacific Ocean around April 10.

The Artemis II mission serves as a crucial dress rehearsal for future lunar exploration under NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon’s surface as early as 2028 and establish a long-term presence there. Unlike Apollo, Artemis emphasizes sustainable exploration, international partnerships and eventual crewed missions to Mars. Canada’s contribution of astronaut Hansen and the European Service Module underscores the collaborative nature of the effort.

Throughout the day, mission managers highlighted the crew’s health and the spacecraft’s performance. All four astronauts are experienced: Wiseman has flown on the International Space Station, Glover became the first Black astronaut to pilot a spacecraft during a Crew Dragon mission, Koch holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, and Hansen is making his first trip to space.

After the TLI burn, the crew’s schedule lightened somewhat, giving them time to adjust to the deep-space environment. Over the next several days, they will perform additional system checks, practice emergency procedures such as rapid suit donning, and conduct observations of Earth and the receding Moon. Small trajectory correction burns may be needed to fine-tune the path.

Flight controllers noted that once past a certain point, a direct abort back to Earth becomes less feasible, and the mission will rely on the free-return trajectory that uses the Moon’s gravity for the return leg. This profile provides a built-in safety margin for the test flight.

Public interest in the mission has been intense, with live streams from NASA+ and YouTube drawing large audiences. Views from Orion’s cameras have offered stunning perspectives of Earth shrinking in the distance and the vastness of space. The crew has shared brief messages of excitement and gratitude, describing the launch as “a great day for the team” and the view as breathtaking.

As Orion continues its outbound journey, NASA will hold daily status briefings from Johnson Space Center in Houston, except for the day of the lunar flyby when the focus shifts to real-time operations. The agency has invited global audiences to follow along via multiple platforms.

Looking ahead, the mission will test Orion’s deep-space capabilities in ways never before attempted with this new generation of hardware. Engineers are particularly interested in how the spacecraft handles thermal extremes, radiation exposure and long-duration life support far from Earth’s protective magnetosphere.

Artemis II builds directly on the uncrewed Artemis I test flight completed in 2022, which successfully sent Orion around the Moon and back. With humans now aboard, the stakes are higher, but so is the potential payoff in data and experience.

The international aspect adds another layer of significance. Hansen’s participation represents Canada’s growing role in lunar exploration, including contributions to the future Lunar Gateway station. The European Space Agency’s service module has performed as designed, providing reliable propulsion that will be essential for later missions.

Back on Earth, recovery teams are already preparing for splashdown in the Pacific, with U.S. Navy and Department of Defense assets on standby to assist the astronauts once Orion parachutes into the ocean.

NASA Administrator and other officials have stressed that every phase of the mission — from launch through the flyby and return — is being scrutinized to inform the design and operations of Artemis III, the first crewed lunar landing in the new era.

For now, the four astronauts are focused on the journey ahead. With the TLI burn behind them, they are truly “on the way to the Moon,” as NASA succinctly put it in its mission updates. The coming days will bring more system demonstrations, scientific observations and the historic sight of the lunar far side up close — a view only 24 Apollo astronauts have previously experienced.

As the crew settles into their routine among the stars, the world watches a pivotal step in humanity’s return to deep space. Artemis II is not just a test flight; it is a bridge to a future where humans live and work on the Moon and venture farther into the solar system.