NASA's Artemis II has left Earth's orbit, and 4 astronauts now head to the moon

## Summary
After key milestone, Artemis II astronauts speed off toward the moon This much-anticipated " translunar injection burn " broke the crew capsule out of its orbit around the planet and sent it on a journey towards the moon that no one has made in more than a half-century. "I gotta tell you, there is nothing normal about this. This is an unbelievable technical accomplishment." The new trajectory will take advantage of the moon's gravity to slingshot the capsule around the back of the moon and send it home, with the astronauts splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Calif. in about eight days. "The crew is feeling pretty good up here, on our way to the moon," said Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he spoke to Mission Control in Houston, just minutes after the completion of this critical maneuver. "Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of," Hansen said, noting the efforts of all the people around the world who had persevered to make Artemis II possible. "It's your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon." So far in space, the astronauts have had to deal with various small glitches, but nothing major. The crew also got a cabin pressurization leak warning before the critical burn, but controllers on the ground said the pressure and temperature of their capsule were stable, so this alarm did not interfere with the plan to go to the moon. "That was a false indication," explained Judd Frieling, an Artemis flight director, in a press briefing at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We quickly knew that there was no leak." Short Wave Why is NASA going to the moon again? But after the critical burn of the spacecraft's engine, she said, "the laws of orbital mechanics are going to carry our crew to the moon, around the far side, and back to Earth." NASA Artemis II the moon Facebook Flipboard Email

## Article Content
Space
NASA's Artemis II has left Earth's orbit, and 4 astronauts now head to the moon
April 3, 2026
5:00 AM ET
Heard on
Morning Edition
Nell Greenfieldboyce
NASA's Artemis II has left Earth's orbit, and 4 astronauts now head to the moon
Audio will be available later today.
In this photo provided by NASA, a view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II test flight on Thursday. The crew successfully completed a key burn, sending the capsule speeding to the moon for a lunar flyby.
AP/NASA
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AP/NASA
NASA says the
Artemis II mission
continues to go according to plan, with its
four-person crew
seemingly euphoric as they know they're now truly en route to the moon.
On Thursday evening, when their spacecraft was passing about 115 miles above the Earth, one of its engines fired for 5 minutes and 50 seconds.
Science
Success! After key milestone, Artemis II astronauts speed off toward the moon
This much-anticipated "
translunar injection burn
" broke the crew capsule out of its orbit around the planet and sent it on a
journey towards the moon
that no one has made in more than a half-century.
"I gotta tell you, there is nothing normal about this. Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that," said mission commander
Reid Wiseman
, in a downlink from the spacecraft a few hours after the lunar injection burn.
"We are definitely, 100% on our way to the moon," said Wiseman, who said that the crew just looked at each other in disbelief after the burn was complete. "This is unbelievable, that we can put our minds to something and pull it off. This is an unbelievable technical accomplishment."
The
new trajectory
will take advantage of the moon's gravity to slingshot the capsule around the back of the moon and send it home, with the astronauts splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Calif. in about eight days.
"The crew is feeling pretty good up here, on our way to the moon," said Canadian Space Agency astronaut
Jeremy Hansen
as he spoke to Mission Control in Houston, just minutes after the completion of this critical maneuver.
"Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of," Hansen said, noting the efforts of all the people around the world who had persevered to make
Artemis II
possible. "It's your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon."
So far in space, the astronauts have had to deal with various small glitches, but nothing major.
The four members of NASA's Artemis II crew (from left to right), Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover, answer media questions from space during a news conference as they journey to the moon.
Screenshot by Russell Lewis for NPR
/via NASA.gov
hide caption
toggle caption
Screenshot by Russell Lewis for NPR
/via NASA.gov
"Things are going really well," says NASA's
Lori Glaze
. "I think we couldn't be more pleased with how well things are going. Right now we're not tracking any issues of concern."
A slight problem with the water dispensing system had the astronauts bagging water as a precautionary measure in case of a subsequent failure, just before the engine burn that changed their trajectory and sent them moonbound.
The crew also got a cabin pressurization leak warning before the critical burn, but controllers on the ground said the pressure and temperature of their capsule were stable, so this alarm did not interfere with the plan to go to the moon.
"That was a false indication," explained Judd Frieling, an Artemis flight director, in
a press briefing
at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We quickly knew that there was no leak."
Short Wave
Why is NASA going to the moon again?
Still, Hansen said the alarm definitely got the crew's attention — as the astronauts wondered whether leaking cabin air would force them to cut their mission short and figure out how to get home in a day or less, instead of going to the moon. "Luckily, it was just a little anomaly," he said. "Houston helped us out."
Part of this mission is figuring out how to configure the capsule and its various systems for a flight with people on board, officials said, so that false alarms don't become a distraction as the astronauts go where no one has gone since the
Apollo program in the 1970s
.
"This is still a test flight," said Glaze. But after the critical burn of the spacecraft's engine, she said, "the laws of orbital mechanics are going to carry our crew to the moon, around the far side, and back to Earth."
NASA
Artemis II
the moon
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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- This is an unbelievable technical accomplishment." The new trajectory will take advantage of the moon's gravity to slingshot the capsule around the back of the moon and send it home, with the astronauts splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Calif. in about eight days. "The crew is feeling pretty good up here, on our way to the moon," said Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he spoke to Mission Control in Houston, just minutes after the completion of this critical maneuver. "Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of," Hansen said, noting the efforts of all the people around the world who had persevered to make Artemis II possible. "It's your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon." So far in space, the astronauts have had to deal with various small glitches, but nothing major.

### Areas for Consideration
- Right now we're not tracking any issues of concern." A slight problem with the water dispensing system had the astronauts bagging water as a precautionary measure in case of a subsequent failure, just before the engine burn that changed their trajectory and sent them moonbound.

### Implications
- Space NASA's Artemis II has left Earth's orbit, and 4 astronauts now head to the moon April 3, 2026 5:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Nell Greenfieldboyce NASA's Artemis II has left Earth's orbit, and 4 astronauts now head to the moon Audio will be available later today.
- This is an unbelievable technical accomplishment." The new trajectory will take advantage of the moon's gravity to slingshot the capsule around the back of the moon and send it home, with the astronauts splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Calif. in about eight days. "The crew is feeling pretty good up here, on our way to the moon," said Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he spoke to Mission Control in Houston, just minutes after the completion of this critical maneuver. "Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of," Hansen said, noting the efforts of all the people around the world who had persevered to make Artemis II possible. "It's your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon." So far in space, the astronauts have had to deal with various small glitches, but nothing major.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers moon, nasa, artemis topics. Notable strengths include discussion of moon. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 806.