NASA’s Artemis II mission has left Earth’s orbit
The Integrity, name of the Orion capsule carrying the Artemis II astronauts on a trip around the Moon, has left Earth’s orbit. NASA announced that it has successfully completed a key engraving of Orion’s main engine. That six-minute engine start provided about 6,000 pounds of thrust, which gave the spacecraft the acceleration it needed to get underway toward the Moon. “Today, for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, humans have left Earth’s orbit,” said Dr. Lori Glaze of NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Orion is operating with a crew for the first time in space, and we are collecting critical data and learning from every step.” Commander Reid Wiseman called it a “spectacular moment” to see “the entire globe from pole to pole” after leaving Earth’s orbit.
Artemis II launched on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time, after some delays caused by a hydrogen leak and then a helium problem. This is the first crewed flight of the Artemis program and the first time humanity has ventured beyond low Earth orbit after the termination of the Apollo program. Hours after launch, the astronauts reported a problem with their onboard toilets, which crew member Christina Koch eventually fixed. Commander Wiseman then reported to Mission Control that they were experiencing issues with Microsoft Outlook on the Surface Pro device they were using. But ultimately these were manageable setbacks that would not prevent the crew from achieving the mission objective.
The mission takes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon. On April 6, the spacecraft will pass by the far side of the Moon that humans have never seen directly before, and the crew will take photos and provide their own observations of the lunar surface.
