The Artemis 2 astronauts are now on their way to the Moon. At 7:57 PM ET, the Orion spacecraft completed a translunar injection, making it the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit since the Apollo era.
Orion autonomously fired its main engine in less than six minutes, generating a velocity change of about 1,300 feet per second and launching itself into the lunar trajectory. Flight controllers and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman monitored engine operation, guidance and navigation data during the burn to ensure it went smoothly, and it absolutely did. No serious problems occurred during combustion.
This is the first time Orion has performed its own TLI burn. During Artemis 1, the upper stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, also known as the temporary cryogenic propulsion stage, was attached to the spacecraft and lifted it into lunar orbit. Demonstrating that Orion can do it on its own is a key milestone that will help pave the way for future moon landings.
Once this critical maneuver is complete, Orion will perform a smaller burn to perfect its trajectory and is now on its way to an expected rendezvous with the Moon on Monday.
“With this successful TLI, the crew is feeling pretty good here on the way to the moon,” Jeremy Hansen said over the communications system. “We just wanted to reach out to everyone on the planet who worked to make Artemis possible, so we felt the strength of your determination every second of that burn.”
“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and now it is your hopes for the future that drive us on this journey around the Moon,” Hansen added.
Around the moon and again
SLS rocket and Orion Launched from the Kennedy Space Center NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen into low Earth orbit on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. ET in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Yesterday was unusual. Apart from a few minor technical problems during launch, a brief, partial loss of communication between ground control and Orion and trouble in the space shuttle toileteverything went as planned. NASA quickly resolved each of these anomalies.
Now that Orion is bound to the moon, the spacecraft should enter the moon’s orbit on the fifth day of the flight, which will be Sunday. At this point, the Moon’s gravity will be stronger than Earth’s and will push the spacecraft to the far side. Artemis 2 astronauts will have a full day (Monday) during this gravity flight. Observe the surface of the moon.
The beauty of the translunar injection is that when Orion leaves behind the Moon on Tuesday, it will already be on a free-return trajectory that will bring it back to Earth. Apart from three minor corrections spread between Tuesday and Friday, our planet’s gravity will naturally pull Orion home. But to be clear, these event dates assume the mission will proceed as planned.
Gizmodo will follow the flight until the jump, and you can follow along with us live blog. Now that humanity has officially returned to the moon, you will encounter current history.
