NASA Artemis II Astronauts Leave Earth Orbit for the Moon

Translunar injection (TLI) burn puts the Integrity Orion spacecraft on course for lunar orbit.

Jack Daleo

Friday, April 03, 2026 at 09:04 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Cameras on NASA’s Integrity Orion spacecraft capture images of Earth as four astronauts orbit the planet during flight day one of Artemis II. [Credit: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

NASA's historic Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight to lunar orbit since Apollo, has begun its four-day journey to the moon with four astronauts aiming to travel farther from Earth than any human before.
The crew successfully completed the critical translunar injection (TLI) burn, initiating their trajectory for a figure-eight slingshot around the moon, marking a treacherous but successful phase.
Key mission objectives include a historic lunar flyby on flight day six, where astronauts will break distance records and observe the moon, followed by a gravity-assisted return and a critical atmospheric reentry with a modified heat shield for a planned April 11 splashdown.

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After orbiting the Earth twice, four astronauts have officially begun their four-day journey to the moon.

Friday marks the start of flight day three for NASA’s historic Artemis II mission, which is sending three Americans and one Canadian farther from Earth than any human has ever ventured. It is NASA’s first crewed mission to lunar orbit since the Apollo era more than half a century ago.