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On their way around the Moon, the Artemis II crew had time to snap some terrific pictures of our blue planet. NASA has begun sharing the images, including the one above, which shows a striking view of Earth through the Orion capsule's window.
Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman overcame the crew's problems with Microsoft Outlook and the toilet to capture the photos. He took the above pic after the craft completed its translunar injection burn on April 2.
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NASA's Artemis II successfully launched on April 1, with its crew on a 10-day mission to circle the Moon. It's the first crewed Artemis flight and a major step toward humanity returning to our little neighbor in the future. Since launch, the vehicle has separated from its launch system and been manually piloted, testing how the Orion capsule will dock with future lunar landers. There have been some snags, however: The onboard toilet went awry, and Microsoft Outlook has been acting screwy.
Jokes aside, there is something magnificent about seeing humanity taking to the stars once again. That, for all of our worst instincts, we can still come together to solve problems and explore beyond our own horizons.
— Dan Cooper
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The Integrity, the name of the Orion capsule carrying Artemis II astronauts on a trip around the moon, has left Earth's orbit. NASA has announced that it has successfully completed a key burn of Orion's main engine. That six-minute firing of the engine provided approximately 6,000 pounds of thrust, which gave the spacecraft the acceleration it needed to set it on its path to the moon. "Today, for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, humans have departed Earth orbit," said Dr. Lori Glaze from NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Orion is operating with crew for the first time in space, and we are gathering critical data, and learning from each step." Commander Reid Wiseman called seeing "the entire globe from pole to pole" after leaving Earth's orbit a "spectacular moment."
Artemis II launched on April 1 at 6:35PM Eastern time after a couple of delays caused by a hydrogen leak and then a helium issue. It's the first crewed flight of the Artemis program and the first time humanity has ventured beyond Low Earth Orbit after the Apollo program shut down. Within a few hours after its launch, the astronauts reported an issue with their onboard toilet, which crew member Christina Koch eventually fixed. Commander Wis
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