Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich / EPA
Probe has already performed the translunar injection. Minor incidents, none are of concern. Left Earth’s orbit, historic journey continues.
The United States space agency NASA confirmed that it was successfully completed the maneuver who placed the manned mission Artemis II rumo à Luadespite minor incidents that did not compromise the flight. Already left Earth’s orbit.
On Thursday, NASA acknowledged that during the early stages of the Orion spacecraft’s operation there were technical adjustments and a brief communications outage, which has since been resolved, but insisted there are no concerns with the mission.
“We encountered some issues along the way, but none represent a concern at this time“, said Howard Hu, Orion program manager, at a press conference.
The probe made the call ‘translunar injection’, a maneuver that generated the necessary thrust to leave Earth’s orbit and begin the journey towards the Moon, which should last between three and four days, during which the crew will carry out more tests and scientific experiments.
NASA highlighted that the maneuver, which lasted five minutes and 52 secondswas executed “in a perfect” by the flight control team in Houston, in the southern United States.
The maneuver includes the last major engine burn of the mission, after which the spacecraft will continue its trajectory, driven by the laws of orbital mechanics, around the Moon and, later, back to Earth.
The North American space agency also highlighted that the crew is good health and that the capsule’s systems are functioning as planned.
Hours earlier, NASA gave ‘green light’ to crew yes Artemis II to launch the spacecraft towards the Moon few hours later.
Following the launch on Wednesday of the first manned flight around the Moon in more than 50 years, flight director Jeff Radigan announced from the mission control center in Houston (south) that “everything is ok” for the Orion probe to carry out the operation, according to NASA’s assessment.
“Let’s move forward with this and prepare for the propulsion”, said the official, with the departure scheduled for 23:49 GMT.
“Perfect, Jeff, that’s great to hear.”replied one of the crew members.
Before the journey towards the Moon, the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission woke up inside the Orion capsule, spending the first day orbiting the Earth.
This lunar mission is historic for being the first whose crew includes a woman, Christina Koch, a black man, pilot Victor Glover, and a Canadian, Jeremy Hansen, from the Canadian Space Agency.
Once they get close to the Moon, astronauts will orbit it and fly over its far side, more than 400,000 kilometers from Earth, hoping that they will break the Apollo 13 mission record by becoming the humans who have traveled the furthest from Earth.
