Artemis II leaves Earth's orbit on track for far side of the Moon

48 minutes ago

Pallab Ghosh, Science Correspondent, Cape Canaveral,

Alison Francis, Senior Science Journalist,

Kevin Church and

Emily Selvadurai

NASA

The Artemis II mission plans to take the astronauts further into space that humans have been before - more than 4,700 miles beyond the Moon

The four astronauts on the Artemis II mission have now left the Earth's orbit, after their Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for a final push towards the Moon.

The five minute and 55 second engine burn, known as the translunar injection (TLI), went "flawlessly", Nasa's Dr Lori Glaze said afterwards.

And from the Orion capsule, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said the crew was "feeling pretty good up here on our way to the Moon".

Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again.…