NASA’s Artemis II mission has successfully completed a critical engine burn, sending the Orion spacecraft on its trajectory towards the far side of the moon in what officials have described as a flawless operation.
The translunar injection burn began at 19:49 EDT (23:49 GMT) and lasted just under six minutes, firing at the spacecraft’s lowest orbital point relative to Earth to maximise efficiency and propel it out of Earth orbit.
BBC reported NASA saying the procedure was executed without fault and confirmed that all four astronauts aboard are “doing great” as the mission progresses.
“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said in his first remarks following the successful burn.
The mission, the first to carry humans beyond low-Earth orbit in more than half a century, is designed as a test flight, with the Orion capsule set to circle the Moon rather than land on it.
Mission commander Reid Wiseman emphasised the significance of the journey, which is expected to take the crew farther from Earth than any humans have previously travelled.
“There is nothing normal about this... [it's a] Herculean effort,” he said.
“We just feel like we are lifted by the team that's supported us,” Jeremy Hansen added.
NASA officials reiterated that Artemis II is primarily a systems test, aimed at evaluating how the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft and its human crew perform together in deep space conditions ahead of future lunar landings.
According to mission scientists, all major objectives so far have been met, including ascent performance, manual flight demonstrations and life-support system checks, with early data indicating strong performance across key systems.
Inside the spacecraft, astronauts described adapting to life in microgravity, including unconventional sleeping arrangements in the confined cabin.
“It’s comical... [but] more comfortable than you would think,” Wiseman said, noting that crew members are sleeping in various positions, including suspended upside down.
The crew also resolved early technical issues with the spacecraft’s toilet system.
“I like to say that [the plunger] is the most important piece of equipment in space,” mission specialist Christina Koch said with a laugh.
“We were all breathing a sigh of relief... It was a priming issue. Luckily, we're [now] all systems go,” she added.
As Orion continues its journey, the astronauts have been captivated by views of Earth and space, spending extended periods photographing the planet’s night side illuminated by the Moon.
“We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon,” Hansen said, adding that the crew had been “glued to the windows”.
The voyage to the Moon is expected to take several days, forming part of a roughly 10-day mission that will see Orion loop around the Moon on a free-return trajectory before heading back to Earth.
If mission parameters are fully achieved, the crew could surpass the distance record set by the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970, marking another historic milestone in human spaceflight.
NASA officials said the coming days will be critical for gathering further data, describing the mission as an opportunity to extract “everything this vehicle can teach us” before future missions attempt a lunar landing.
“This is their Apollo,” a senior NASA official said earlier, referring to a new generation witnessing humanity’s return to deep space exploration. - April 3, 2026
