The engines of the "Orion" spacecraft were activated in the mode of the so-called translunar injection impulse, giving the ship acceleration. The crew of the "Artemis II" mission set off towards the Moon a day after launch.
The spacecraft "Orion," flying to the Moon as part of the "Artemis II" mission with four astronauts on board, has left Earth's orbit and is headed towards its satellite, writes DW. On Thursday, April 2, at approximately 7:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time (11:49 PM Greenwich Mean Time, 12:49 AM Central European Time), the ship's engines received what is known as a translunar injection impulse, giving "Orion" enough acceleration to exit Earth's orbit.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), preliminary reports indicate that this stage was completed as planned. Thus, just over 25 hours passed between the launch of the mission and the start of its journey to the Moon.
It’s not a straight shot to the far side of the Moon! 🌕
— NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2026
Over approximately 10 days, the Artemis II astronauts will orbit Earth twice before looping around the far side of the Moon in a figure eight and returning home. pic.twitter.com/udjejhxgVx
The launch of the "Orion" spacecraft as part of the lunar mission "Artemis II" took place on April 1 at 6:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Its crew is set to orbit the Moon and return to Earth without landing on the lunar surface over the course of 10 days. The Earth's satellite is located nearly 400,000 kilometers away from it. The previous flight to the Moon took place more than 50 years ago, on December 7, 1972, aboard the "Apollo 17" spacecraft.
Three Stages of the "Artemis" Mission
The new launch of "Orion" marks the second stage in the history of the new U.S. lunar program. The first stage of the program, "Artemis I," was completed in December 2022: "Orion" flew to the Moon in a test unmanned mode, spent several weeks in its orbit, and returned to Earth. The third stage of the program, "Artemis III," is set to land humans on the Moon.
The current crew of "Orion" includes Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover. Glover became the first African American, and Koch the first female astronaut, to participate in a lunar mission.
NASA announced the creation of the "Artemis" program in 2019. Its goal is to return the U.S. to the Moon, which involves regular crewed missions and the establishment of a staging base for flights to Mars.
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