Canada's Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II astronauts leave Earth's orbit and head for the moon

cosmonaut Jeremy Hansen became the number one canadian river in account to head up to the Moon, as he and the three other members of the Artemis II crew executed the so-called translunar ignition that will take them on the next leg of their lunar adventure.

The Canadian Space Agency posted on social media that after staying in Earth's orbit for about 25 hours, NASA confirmed that all Orion critical systems were in order and that Artemis II could continue its trajectory.

Their Orion capsule bolted out of orbit around Earth right on cue and headed toward the moon nearly 400,000 kilometres away.

"America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman wrote on X. "This time, further than before."

Nominal translunar injection burn complete. The Artemis II crew is officially on the way to the Moon. <br><br>America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon. This time, farther than ever before.

It was the first such engine firing for a space crew since Apollo 17 set out on that era's final moonshot on Dec. 7, 1972. NASA said that preliminary reports indicate it went well.

"Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it's your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon," Hansen told mission control some 10 minutes after the thruster firing.

He said they were glued to the windows to take in the view, calling it "phenomenal."

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.

Now committed to the moon, the Artemis II test flight is the opening act for NASA's ultimate plans for a moon base and sustained lunar living.

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Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen will fly past the moon then make a U-turn and fly straight home without stopping on land.

In the process, they will become the farthest humans have ever travelled from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970. They also may become the fastest during their re-entry at flight's end on April 10.

Overnight Friday into Saturday, Canadian reporters will have an opportunity to speak with Hansen during the CSA's first live space-to-Earth connection. During a brief 20-minute connection, Hansen will share his early impressions of the mission and answer questions.

The next major milestone after that will be Monday's lunar flyby.

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