KATHMANDU: Astronauts aboard Artemis II fired their engines Thursday night and began their journey toward the moon, marking the first time humans have left Earth’s orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The maneuver, known as translunar ignition, took place about 25 hours after launch and pushed the crew’s Orion spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit and onto a path toward the moon, nearly 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away.
The four-member crew includes commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Officials from NASA said the engine burn was executed successfully. During a press briefing, Lori Glaze said the moment marked the first time since 1972 that humans had departed Earth’s orbit.
Astronaut Hansen said the crew watched Earth shrink behind them through the capsule’s windows as they left orbit. He described the view as phenomenal and said the mission reflected humanity’s shared ambitions for exploration.
NASA kept the spacecraft close to Earth for about a day before the lunar departure to test the capsule’s life-support systems and ensure the crew’s readiness for deep-space travel.
The mission will send the astronauts past the moon before they loop around and return directly to Earth using a free-return trajectory, which relies on the gravitational pull of Earth and the moon.
During the flight, the crew is expected to travel farther from Earth than any humans before, surpassing the distance record set during Apollo 13 in 1970. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth on April 10.
The mission has already marked several historic firsts, with Glover becoming the first Black astronaut to travel toward the moon, Koch the first woman on a lunar mission, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut to take part in such a journey.
The test flight is a major step in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on the moon and pave the way for future lunar landings.
Comment