Artemis I Moon mission: NASA’s Orion spacecraft completes first outbound trajectory correction burn

NASA's uncrewed Artemis I Orion spacecraft has successfully completed the first outbound trajectory correction burn, which adjusted the spacecraft's course toward the Moon.

The spacecraft is scheduled to perform additional course correction burns on its way to the Moon. The second outbound trajectory burn is scheduled for Thursday, November 17.

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, carrying the Orion spacecraft launched on the Artemis I flight test, at 1:47 am ET, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Time lapse footage from @NASA_Orion as #Artemis I journeys to the Moon. Orion is scheduled to make its closest approach to the vicinity of the Moon on Nov. 21.🌙 pic.twitter.com/6ki89b8lHk

— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) November 17, 2022

For the unversed, Artemis I is the first integrated flight test of NASA's SLS, Orion and ground systems. The primary goal of this uncrewed mission is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion's heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.

As part of the Artemis I mission, Orion is planned to travel approximately 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and return to Earth over the course of 25.5 days. It is expected to fly by the Moon on November 21, performing a close approach of the lunar surface on its way to a distant retrograde orbit, a highly stable orbit thousands of miles beyond the Moon.