NASA Artemis Moonshot

This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon Thursday, April 2, 2026.

As featured on

Artemis II astronauts rocket toward the moon after spending a day around Earth

Artemis II astronauts rocket toward the moon after spending a day around Earth

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have fired their engines and are blazing toward the moon. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and one Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule has bolted out of orbit around Earth and chased after the moon nearly 250,000 miles away. It is the first engine firing for a moon crew since Apollo 17 set out on that era’s final moonshot in 1972. NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.