NASA Gives ‘Go’ For Final Engine Firing That Will Put Artemis II On Track For Moon Orbit
We are just a couple hours away from what could be a major milestone for the Artemis II mission. The translunar injection burn, or TLI, will be final major engine firing that would set Artemis II on its way to circumnavigate the moon.
If it’s a go, the mission could travel farther from Earth than any human ever has, breaking the Apollo program’s distance record.
🚀 IN OTHER ARTEMIS NEWS
Turns out astronauts also can have IT issues with Microsoft Office, even while traveling beyond Earth’s atmosphere. An Artemis II astronaut reported that their Microsoft 365 accounts were not working just seven hours after the lunar space mission launched.
“I have two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one is working,” Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman told Mission Control tech support in Houston, according to the livestream of launch communications.
TECH ISSUESThe Artemis II mission has faced multiple challenges leading up to the spacecraft’s launch, including issues within the abort launch system and helium flow problems.
Soon after takeoff, their toilet system malfunctioned, but it was fixed several hours later. 🪠🚽
LUNAR AMBITIONS
Artemis II is carrying four astronauts on a journey around the moon in a mission that will set the table for putting astronauts back on the lunar surface in 2028. This trip will be the first time astronauts have traveled to the moon in more than 50 years since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The space mission launched Wednesday night, just before sundown. A CNN reporter got an unexpected — and very honest — answer Wednesday while asking a young spectator about why he came out to attend NASA’s Artemis II launch: “We’re going back to the freakin’ moon, that’s why,” the kid said.