New Delhi: The Artemis II crew has completed an outbound trajectory correction burn, refining the trajectory of the Orion spaceship to the Moon. The 17.5
second burn was executed at 3:03 AM UTC on 6 April. The six-hour long lunar flyby will commence at 11:02 hours UTC on 6 April. The crew of four consisting of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are all healthy. At 04:41 UTC on 6 April, the gravity of the Moon became the dominant force controlling the trajectory of Orion, marking the moment that a spaceship entered the Moon’s sphere of influence, for the first time in over 50 years.
NASA will be broadcasting and livestreaming through the lunar flyby. About five hours before the flyby, the Artemis II crew will set a new record for the farthest distance humans have travelled from Earth, previously set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970. The crew will then begin to configure Orion for the flyby. The astronauts have been provided with a list of targets to observe on the lunar surface. There will be a communications blackout of about 40 minutes as the Artemis II mission crosses the far side of the Moon. The crew will then observe a solar eclipse as the Sun passes behind the Moon, after an Earthset and Earthrise. The next day will see the most exciting phase of the mission.
Crews Test out Spacesuit
One of the key test objectives of the mission was to evaluate the Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suit. The crew performed leak checks, simulated seat entry, assessed mobility, and the ability to perform essential functions such as eating and drinking. The suit is meant to protect the passengers of the Orion spaceship during dynamic phases of the flight, and provides life support in the event of cabin depressurisation and for post-splashdown survival operations.
