NASA says the Artemis II mission is proceeding as planned after a key engine burn sent the four-person crew toward the moon. About 115 miles above Earth, an engine fired for 5 minutes and 50 seconds in a translunar injection burn that broke the capsule out of Earth orbit and placed it on a trajectory to the moon — a journey humanity hasn’t attempted in more than half a century.
Mission commander Reid Wiseman, speaking from the spacecraft after the burn, said the crew was stunned. “I gotta tell you, there is nothing normal about this. Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that,” he said. “We are definitely, 100% on our way to the moon. This is unbelievable, that we can put our minds to something and pull it off. This is an unbelievable technical accomplishment.”
The new trajectory will use the moon’s gravity to sling the Orion capsule around the far side of the moon and return it to Earth, with a planned splashdown in the Pacific off San Diego in about eight days. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen told Mission Control the crew was feeling good. “Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of,” he said, praising the global effort behind Artemis II. “It’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon.”
Officials say the crew has encountered several small issues in flight but nothing that threatens the mission. A minor problem with the water dispensing system led the astronauts to bag water as a precaution. They also received a cabin pressurization leak warning before the critical burn; ground controllers reported stable pressure and temperature and determined the alarm was a false indication. “That was a false indication,” said Artemis flight director Judd Frieling. “We quickly knew that there was no leak.” Hansen said the alarm grabbed the crew’s attention, as they considered whether a real leak would have forced an early return. “Luckily, it was just a little anomaly,” he said. “Houston helped us out.”
Lori Glaze of NASA said mission control was pleased with how things are going and that there were no issues of concern at the moment. She emphasized that Artemis II is still a test flight: part of the mission is validating how the capsule and its systems perform with people on board, and ensuring false alarms and anomalies don’t distract crews on future lunar missions. After the translunar injection, Glaze noted, “the laws of orbital mechanics are going to carry our crew to the moon, around the far side, and back to Earth.”