The clock starts ticking well before the moon comes into view. The mission begins with two days in orbit around Earth.
During that time, the crew plans to calibrate instruments, check life support systems and test the systems that remove carbon dioxide from the air, among other tasks. They will also carry out several engine burns to prepare for what NASA calls the translunar injection burn, the maneuver that will send Orion onto its path toward the moon.
That burn is expected on the second day of the mission.
On days three and four, the astronauts will keep preparing as they approach the moon. NASA says they will take photos and plot their course on the first crewed mission to approach the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The crew is also expected to carry out several more engine burns to stay on the correct course, according to NASA.
The spacecraft is expected to reach the moon on the sixth day of the mission.
Unlike Apollo 8, which orbited the moon several times while its crew mapped possible landing sites, Orion will make one pass around the moon and will not enter low lunar orbit, according to space.com.
That pass includes a trip around the far side of the moon. During that part of the flight, communications with Earth will be cut off for more than half an hour, according to NASA.
Overall, the crew will stay at least 7,400 kilometres above the moon’s surface. NASA says that means when Orion moves around the back side of the moon, the crew will be farther from Earth than any crewed mission in history.
“In that process, they’ll be close to 5,000 miles away from the surface of the moon, which is farther than humanity has ever been from planet Earth, farther than even the Apollo astronauts got,” Michelle Nichols, director of public programs at Adler Planetarium, said.
After the lunar flyby, the return trip begins.
Because Orion will not have to leave low lunar orbit, the spacecraft can use Earth’s gravity to draw it back toward the planet. According to the mission plan, that part of the flight will take up to four days.
As the capsule nears Earth, it will separate from the service module. Orion will then re-enter the atmosphere and splash down in the ocean, where recovery crews will retrieve it on the 10th day.
If Artemis II goes as planned, NASA’s current expectation is that Artemis III will be the first crewed mission to land on the moon since Apollo 17.
There is no exact launch date for Artemis III, but the initial plan is to launch in mid-2027.
The Artemis program’s goal is to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon. The plan also aims to support a future crewed mission to Mars.
NASA plans to set up a base at the moon’s south pole. The agency plans to mine the region for water ice and process it into rocket fuel.
