Day after liftoff, Artemis II astronauts rocket towards moon

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts fired their engines and blazed toward the moon on Thursday night, breaking free of the chains that have trapped humanity in shallow laps around Earth in the decades since Apollo. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and a Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week.

Their Orion capsule bolted out of orbit around Earth right on cue and chased after the moon to nearly 400,000 km away. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am so, so excited to be able to tell you that for the first time since 1972 during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit,” NASA’s Lori Glaze announced at a news conference. The engine firing was flawless, she noted. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said he and his crewmates were glued to the capsule’s windows as they left Earth in the rearview mirror, taking in the “phenomenal” views. Their faces were pressed so tightly against the windows that they had to wipe them clean. “Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon,” Hansen said.

NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure. Now committed to the moon, the Artemis II test flight is the opening act for NASA’s grand plans for a Moon base and sustained lunar living.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen will dash past the moon then hang a U-turn and zip straight home without stopping on land.