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Astronaut Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian in history to head to the Moon, as he and the three other members of the Artemis II crew executed the so-called translunar ignition that will take them on the next leg of their lunar adventure.
The Canadian Space Agency posted on social media that after staying in Earth’s orbit for about 25 hours, NASA confirmed that all Orion critical systems were in order and that Artemis II could continue its trajectory.
Their Orion capsule bolted out of orbit around Earth right on cue and headed toward the moon nearly 400,000 kilometres away.
“America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on X. “This time, further than before.”
Nominal translunar injection burn complete. The Artemis II crew is officially on the way to the Moon. <br><br>America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon. This time, farther than ever before.
—NASAAdmin
It was the first such engine firing for a space crew since Apollo 17 set out on that era’s final moonshot on Dec. 7, 1972. During a news conference a short time later, NASA declared the burn “flawless.”
“Our crew is healthy and our spacecraft is performing really well,” said Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.
Hansen spoke to NASA from the Orion capsule.
“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon,” Hansen told mission control some 10 minutes after the thruster firing.
He said they were glued to the windows to take in the view, calling it “phenomenal.”
NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.
Now committed to the moon, the Artemis II test flight is the opening act for NASA’s ultimate plans for a moon base and sustained lunar living.
Roberta Bondar was Canada’s first woman astronaut. She explains what the Artemis II crew experienced through launch and what could be learned from the mission.
Snapping photos
Commander Reid Wiseman, testing cameras as the crew flew, saw the planet as a shrinking sunlit globe, and said taking photos from that distance made it difficult to adjust exposure settings.
“It’s like walking out back at your house, trying to take a picture of the moon. That’s what it feels like right now trying to take a picture of Earth,” he told mission control.
NASA has yet to release any images captured by the crew so far, but expects to do so later in the mission after more climactic moments. Among them is an anticipated “Earthrise” image, echoing the famous photo taken by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders in 1968 as his spacecraft looped around the moon.
Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen will fly past the moon then make a U-turn and fly straight home without stopping on land.
In the process, they will travel farther from Earth than any humans have before, breaking the Apollo distance record set in 1970.
Overnight Friday into Saturday, Canadian reporters will have an opportunity to speak with Hansen during the CSA’s first live space-to-Earth connection. During a brief 20-minute connection, Hansen will share his early impressions of the mission and answer questions.
The next major milestone after that will be Monday’s lunar flyby.
