Artemis II Launches

NASA's Artemis II launch from Kennedy Space Center on April 1st was a total success and frankly, it could not have been better. The SLS rocket — a vehicle notorious for fuel leaks and last-minute scrubs — managed a faultless flight on the very first attempt, right at the opening of the launch window. The Orion capsule (nicknamed Integrity by the crew) carries NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — four people going where no one has been for more than fifty years. It is the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 that human beings have ventured beyond Earth orbit, and the fact that it happened almost effortlessly, without any problems, makes it seem even more unbelievable.

So far, the crew has already left Earth heading to the Moon. Last night, Orion completed its translunar injection burn — a straightforward six-minute engine firing that propelled the spacecraft out of Earth's orbit and onto a trajectory that will carry it around the lunar far side. Eventually, Artemis II will reach approximately 252,000 miles from Earth, breaking the record set by Apollo 13. However, the mission is not just a voyage to the Moon — it is a comprehensive demonstration of the systems that NASA will rely on for everything ahead, including future crewed missions to Mars. The crew has been getting acquainted with scientific payloads, exercising on Orion's compact flywheel device, and proving that deep-space crewed flight is indeed here to stay. Splashdown is expected around April 11th — let's hope it continues to be this smooth.