Artemis II officially begins its journey to the moon

CNN, NASA, NASA VIA YOUTUBE

By Jackie Wattles, Ashley Strickland, Asuka Koda, Lily Hautau and Elise Hammond

Merritt Island, Florida (CNN) – Four astronauts on the Artemis II mission are on their way to journey around the moon after successfully conducting the translunar injection burn, or TLI. “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,” Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen said in the crew’s first words since they set course. “With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it,” astronaut Christina Koch said before TLI. The historic and risky lunar venture will mark the first time astronauts return to the vicinity of the moon in more than 50 years. The mission could travel farther from Earth than any human ever has, breaking the Apollo program’s distance record.

The historic and risky lunar venture will mark the first time astronauts return to the vicinity of the moon in more than 50 years. The mission could travel farther from Earth than any human ever has, breaking the Apollo program’s distance record.

The gargantuan Space Launch System rocket fired up its engines at 6:35pm ET Wednesday, putting off nearly 9 million pounds of thrust and vaulting the rocket off the pad. Within one minute, SLS reached supersonic speeds — or more than 767 miles per hour (1,235 kilometers per hour). 

After an action-packed launch day, the Artemis II crew stayed busy on day two of their journey.

The four astronauts woke up after sleeping in two separate shifts, and their first challenge was hygiene without gravity, followed by a workout.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman completed his exercise routine on Orion’s flywheel exercise device. He was the first member of the crew to workout since launch.

“It feels pretty much like working out on Earth,” according to Wiseman, who gave the command center an update on the equipment. The tiredness in his muscles after was “the exact same as the training on the ground,” he said.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen were expected to do their exercises later in the day. The super light flywheel, smaller than a carry-on suitcase, can be used for rowing, squats and deadlifts. Each crew member will do a 30-minute workout nearly every day to keep their muscles and bones strong in the absence of gravity.

Here’s what to expect during the remaining days of Artemis II.

Day 3: The crew will conduct a CPR demonstration in space and carry out a communications test through the Deep Space Network, a system of radio antennae on Earth.

Day 4: The astronauts will conduct a review of their plan to capture images during the upcoming lunar flyby.

Day 5: Crew members will practice rapidly donning their spacesuits in case of an emergency. Orion will enter the lunar sphere of influence, or the point in space where the tug of the moon’s gravity is stronger than that of Earth’s gravity.

Day 6: This is the big day. Orion will conduct a roughly three-hour flyby of the far side of the moon and make its closest approach to the satellite – about 4,112 statute miles above the lunar surface. The crew is also expected to reach the maximum distance from Earth.

Day 7: Orion will exit the lunar sphere of influence and begin the journey back home. The crew will discuss their observations from the flyby with scientists in mission control. Apart from that, this is the astronauts’ day off.

Days 8-9: There will be more demonstrations of Orion’s capabilities, like its ability to provide the crew with radiation shielding and to be manually piloted. The crew will also test compression garments that can reduce heart rate increases.

Day 10: Splashdown! Orion will descend through Earth’s atmosphere. After the blistering heat of reentry subsides, a series of parachutes will release to slow the capsule so it can safely splash down off the coast of California.

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