FLORIDA: NASA launched Artemis II from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday evening, sending four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on the first crewed mission around the Moon in more than 50 years. The Space Launch System rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at 6:35 p.m. EDT, beginning an approximately 10-day test flight set to loop around the Moon and return to Earth. The mission is the first time astronauts have flown aboard NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule, both developed for deep space travel.
The crew is led by commander Reid Wiseman and includes pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. Their flight is the first lunar mission to include a woman, a Black astronaut and a Canadian. Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022 and is designed to test the spacecraft’s life support, navigation, communications and operating systems with astronauts on board before later missions that are intended to extend human operations around and on the Moon.
Shortly after reaching space, Orion deployed its solar array wings and mission controllers began transitioning the spacecraft from launch operations to flight operations. About 49 minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s upper stage ignited to place Orion into an elliptical orbit around Earth. NASA said a second planned burn is intended to send the spacecraft, which the crew named Integrity, into a high Earth orbit extending about 46,000 miles beyond Earth before Orion separates and continues the mission under its own propulsion and control.
Early Mission Milestones
NASA said the spacecraft’s first hours in flight included further system checks and preparations for life in space. Ground teams also reported that an apogee raise burn was completed successfully, refining Orion’s orbit around Earth. The crew then moved toward a proximity operations demonstration, a test in which Orion is manually maneuvered relative to the detached upper stage. The exercise is intended to evaluate onboard navigation sensors, thrusters and hand controllers as astronauts guide the spacecraft through a series of controlled movements.
NASA said the demonstration uses the upper stage as a reference point, allowing the crew to assess how Orion handles near another spacecraft. During the operation, Orion is expected to approach to within tens of feet of the stage before moving away and continuing the mission. The upper stage is also carrying four CubeSats from Argentina, Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia for science and technology demonstrations. Orion’s European-built service module is scheduled to perform the key burn that sends the spacecraft onto its translunar trajectory.
Flight Path Around The Moon
If mission systems remain healthy, NASA plans the translunar injection burn for Thursday, April 2, sending Artemis II onto a path around the Moon and back toward Earth. A lunar flyby is scheduled for Monday, April 6, when the astronauts are expected to photograph the surface and observe parts of the far side. NASA has said the lighting conditions during the pass should make ridges, slopes and crater rims easier to distinguish as the spacecraft makes its closest approach before beginning the return leg.
Artemis II is scheduled to end with a Pacific Ocean splashdown after roughly 10 days in flight, completing NASA’s first crewed lunar voyage since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission’s main purpose is to verify that the rocket, capsule and ground systems can support astronauts beyond low Earth orbit and back again under operational conditions. With Orion now in flight, NASA has begun the first crewed test of the system it plans to use for future Moon missions, reopening human lunar travel after more than five decades. – By Content Syndication Services.