Tag: Orion
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Artemis II closing in on Earth return
After a groundbreaking 10-day mission that carried humans farther from Earth than ever before, the four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II are heading into their final day in space ahead of splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday. The Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, will have traveled approximately 700,000 miles…
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Astronauts set distance record, revealing the Moon as a place to be explored
After staring at the Moon for almost eight hours Monday, the commander of NASA’s Artemis II mission finally ran out of ways to describe what he was seeing. “No matter how long we look at this, our brains are not processing this image in front of us. It is absolutely spectacular, surreal,” said Reid Wiseman,…
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‘Moon joy!’ Artemis 2’s crew sets a distance record, documents lunar far side and heads back toward Earth
NASA’s Artemis 2 crew captured an iconic “Earthset” picture, showing Earth dipping beneath the lunar horizon. (NASA Photo) Four astronauts today became the first humans to make a trip around the moon since the Apollo era — and added new pages to history books for the Artemis era. The Artemis 2 crew reached a maximum distance of…
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Artemis II breaks record, conducts lunar flyby
Orion spacecraft Integrity, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, successfully passed behind the Moon on Flight Day 6 of the Artemis II mission, losing communications with Earth for approximately 40 minutes while the crew observed spectacular, never-before-seen views of the lunar surface with human eyes. The milestone moment also included…
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As Artemis II zooms to the Moon, everything seems to be going swimmingly
As the Artemis II lunar mission moved into its third day on Friday, and with the spacecraft’s big engine firing behind it, the four astronauts on board had a little more downtime. So the four crew members—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—had their first opportunities to speak with their families at length…
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Orion Spacecraft Races Toward Historic Lunar Flyby in Artemis II Mission
As NASA’s Artemis II mission enters its critical mid-flight phase, the Orion spacecraft—carrying the first crewed mission beyond low-Earth orbit in more than half a century—is steadily heading toward the Moon for a precisely timed lunar flyby on Monday, April 6. Launched on April 1, 2026, aboard SLS from KSC’s 39B, the four-person crew has…
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Artemis II Orion performs TLI Burn — Now headed to the Moon
In a historic milestone more than 50 years in the making, NASA’s Orion spacecraft Integrity has successfully performed its trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn, departing its high elliptical Earth orbit and setting course for the Moon. The roughly six-minute firing of the European Service Module’s AJ10 engine accelerated the crew of four—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander),…
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Launch preview: NASA to launch Artemis 2, its first Moon-bound mission with astronauts since 1972
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft stand at Launch Complex 39B on Tuesday, March 31, ahead of the planned launch of Artemis 2. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now For the first time in more than 53 years, NASA is preparing to send humans beyond low Earth orbit. As soon as Wednesday evening, four astronauts…
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‘Let’s go!’ NASA launches humanity’s first moon voyage in nearly 54 years
NASA’s Space Launch System rises from its Florida launch pad, sending the Artemis 2 crew into orbit. (NASA via YouTube) After years of postponements and close to $100 billion in spending, NASA has launched the first mission to send astronauts around the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The 10-day Artemis 2 mission began today…
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This is my third Orion launch, but it feels totally different
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.—This will be the third time I have observed NASA’s Orion spacecraft take flight. But with this one, for the first time, am I genuinely hopeful about the future of the space agency and its plans to build a station on the surface of the Moon. The two previous flights, in 2014…