NASA has given the four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission the go-ahead to head toward the Moon, marking the first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years.
Flight Director Jeff Radigan confirmed that the Orion spacecraft’s main engine will fire at 7:49 pm Eastern Time (2349 GMT) to place the spacecraft on a trajectory for the Moon.
The burn would last five minutes and 49 seconds and is part of a three-day journey.
Flight controllers would monitor the maneuver to ensure precise alignment for the outbound trip.
The crew, Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen, spent their first hours in orbit performing system checks and troubleshooting minor issues, including a communications glitch and a malfunctioning toilet.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman reported that the astronauts are in “great spirits” and confirmed the Orion spacecraft is performing well in a high elliptical orbit.
Artemis II is part of the 10-day mission designed to pave the way for a crewed Moon landing in 2028.
This mission also achieves historic milestones: sending the first person of color, the first woman, and the first non-American on a lunar mission.
If all goes as planned, the crew will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history over 250,000 miles.
The mission also inaugurated NASA’s Space Launch System, designed to enable repeated Moon missions and establish a permanent lunar base.
The programme is seen as a strategic effort to maintain competitiveness with China, which aims to land humans on the Moon by 2030.
The Artemis programme has faced scrutiny for delays and cost overruns, but NASA maintains that competition drives national innovation and technological advancement.
