The crewed Orion spacecraft has successfully completed a vital translunar injection burn, marking a historic moment as the first crewed vehicle to leave low-Earth orbit since the Apollo missions. The burn took place at 7:57 p.m. ET, allowing Orion to achieve a velocity change of nearly 1,300 feet per second as it sets its course towards the Moon.
Flight controllers, along with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, monitored the procedure, which was executed autonomously by Orion for just under six minutes. No major issues were reported during this critical maneuver, which signifies that Orion is capable of performing its own trajectory adjustments, a significant step towards future lunar landings.
Launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the spacecraft is carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. Following this successful burn, Orion is expected to conduct a smaller maneuver to refine its trajectory and aims to rendezvous with the Moon on Monday.