The Orion capsule and its three-man, one-woman crew successfully broke out of Earth orbit and headed for the moon Thursday evening, hours after NASA’s mission management team cleared the Artemis II crew for a critical rocket firing. The shuttle-era Orbital Maneuvering System engine at the base of the Orion capsule’s service module began firing for five minutes and 50 seconds starting at about 7:50 p.m. EDT as the spacecraft raced through the low point of its elliptical orbit.The engine firing provided a slingshot-like boost to the Orion, speeding it up to some 25,000 mph, the velocity needed to break free of Earth’s gravitational clasp for a four-day trek to the moon.AdvertisementAdvertisementNASA’s Mission Management Team had met earlier in the day, and after reviewing the Orion’s near-flawless performance, cleared the spacecraft and its crew for the critical trans-lunar injection, or TLI burn, a make-or-break milestone for the lunar fly-around.”Hey, just to make it clear in the open here, we are go for TLI after the MMT concluded their deliberations a few minutes ago, and we’re going to proceed down that path and get ready for the burn here,” lead Flight Director Jeff Radigan radioed the crew.Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen replied: “We love those words. And we’re loving the view. We’re falling back to Earth real fast and looking forward to accelerating back to the moon.”A spectacular view of the crescent Earth was beamed down by cameras on the Artemis II Orion capsule early April 2, 2026, as the spacecraft orbited Earth in a highly elliptical orbit at altitudes up to 40,000 miles or more. / Credit: NASALaunched from the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen spent their first “day” in space testing their Orion capsule’s myriad systems.AdvertisementAdvertisementThey also tested the capsule’s maneuverability and adjusted its highly elliptical orbit to line them up for a trajectory to the moon, one that will carry them around t …
