Today is the day. Artemis II — NASA's first crewed Moon mission in 54 years — lifted off last night, and as we record this, four astronauts are preparing to leave Earth's orbit on the Translunar Injection burn. In this special launch-day edition, Anna and Avery cover the near-flawless launch, today's critical TLI milestone, the historic firsts being set by the crew aboard Orion (named Integrity), what the next ten days look like on the road to the Moon, the international CubeSats that hitched a ride, and the stunning coincidence of a full Pink Moon rising as humanity headed moonward.
Key Sources
• NASA Liftoff Announcement — nasa.gov
• NASA Artemis Live Updates Blog — nasa.gov/blogs/artemis
• NASA Coverage Schedule — nasa.gov/missions/artemis
• CNN Artemis II Live Updates — cnn.com
• Time Magazine — 'The Lunar Mission the World Is Watching'
• Astronomy.com — Live Updates: Artemis 2
• NPR — NASA Launches Four People on Artemis II
• Wikipedia — Artemis II
• FAI World Air Sports Federation — Artemis II Records
• Fast Company — Pink Moon / Artemis II
Upcoming Mission Milestones
• Tonight, April 2 (~8 PM ET): Translunar Injection burn — crew leaves Earth orbit
• Sunday, April 5: Crew communication downlinks; Apollo 13 distance record expected to be broken
• Monday, April 6: Lunar flyby — closest approach ~4,000 miles from Moon surface
• Friday, April 10: Pacific Ocean splashdown