For the first time in nearly 54 years, astronauts are traveling toward the Moon. NASA’s Artemis II mission successfully completed its Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) burn on the evening of April 2, 2026, sending the crew on a trajectory toward lunar orbit. The burn began at 7:49 p.m. EDT and lasted approximately five minutes and 51 seconds, with Mission Control confirming a successful maneuver.
Mission Milestones
Earlier in the day, NASA’s Artemis II mission management team polled “go” for the TLI burn, a critical step that propelled the Orion spacecraft out of Earth orbit and onto its path to the Moon. The four-person crew is now traveling through deep space on what represents humanity’s first crewed lunar voyage since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.
A Historic Crew
The Artemis II mission carries a crew of four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, launched atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission is designed as a flyby of the Moon, testing critical systems and navigation procedures that will pave the way for future Artemis landings on the lunar surface.
What Comes Next
The crew will continue toward the Moon over the coming days, conducting systems checks and transmitting imagery back to Earth. NASA has set up a dedicated multimedia resource page for live mission updates and the latest photos from the journey. The successful TLI burn marks a pivotal moment in the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface and eventually establish a sustained presence there.