In this photo provided by NASA, a view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight, on Thursday, April 2, 2026. AP
The four Artemis astronauts fired up their spacecraft's engine to break away from Earth's orbit and zoomed towards the Moon on Thursday, April 2, a milestone that commits NASA to the first crewed lunar flyby in more than half a century.
With enough thrust to accelerate a stationary car to highway driving speed in less than three seconds, the Orion capsule engine blasted the astronauts on their trajectory towards the Moon, which they will now loop as part of the 10-day Artemis 2 mission. The burn lasting just under six minutes propelled the astronauts on their three-day voyage towards Earth's natural satellite, the first since 1972.
"Looks like a good burn, we're confirming," mission control in Houston said.
"The crew is feeling pretty good up here on our way to the Moon," said astronaut Jeremy Hansen. "Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of."
