NASA’s Artemis 2 astronauts are cruising to the Moon

HOUSTON – This may be the ultimate road trip on cruise control.

The four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission are now fully locked in to their trip around the moon after their Orion spacecraft aced a critical maneuver Thursday evening (April 2) to fling them into deep space, reported Space.com.

So what’s an intrepid astronaut crew to do when you’re cruising toward the moon, especially when it takes four days to get there, and another four days to get home? Well, perform CPR, for one.

Today is Flight Day 3 of the Artemis 2 crew’s 10-day trip around the moon. It follows two intense days in space that began with a spectacular launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System megarocket on April 1 (see amazing launch photos here).

“It’s going to be much more relaxed than these first two days,” Judd Freiling, NASA’s Artemis 2 ascent flight director, told reporters here at the agency’s Johnson Space Center late Thursday, reported Space.com.

The Artemis 2 astronauts, commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover (both of NASA), and mission specialists Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of Canada, will spend today rehearsing zero gravity life-saving techniques and gear in deep space.

“Glover, Koch, and Hansen will demonstrate CPR procedures in space; Wiseman and Glover will check out some of Orion’s medical kit, including the thermometer, blood pressure monitor, stethoscope, and otoscope,” NASA wrote in a mission overview, reported Space.com.

The astronauts will also rehearse the complex choreography of photography and lunar observations that they hope to record when they fly closest to the moon in a flyby on Flight Day 6 of their mission, which will be April 6. They may even squeeze in time to look back at the Earth they’ve left behind.

“Observation certainly is one of those things that the crew absolutely will be doing during their time, and they’ve got plenty of time now to reflect and do those other operations,” Frieling said. He added that Mission Control wants to make sure they have time to call their families on their trip. The crew hasn’t had time yet to phone home, reported Space.com.

Glover manually flew the Orion spacecraft within about 50 feet (15 meters) of the SLS upper stage to test how the spacecraft’s thrusters handle under manual control.

“I call it test driving the car,” Howard Hu, NASA’s Orion program manager, told reporters in Thursday’s briefing. Orion seemed to perform just as expected during the trial, he added, reported Space.com.

“Overall, guys, this flies very nicely,” said Glover after completing the test. “Very precise.”

On Friday, Orion is scheduled to fire its thrusters to fine tune its path toward the moon. Koch is also due to test emergency communications systems using NASA’s Deep Space Network. If all goes well, the astronauts may also participate in public affairs events.

“Things are going really well,” Lori Glaze, NASA’s acting associate administrator for exploration. “I think we couldn’t be more pleased with how well things are going right now,” as reported by Space.com.

All Credit To: Space.com / NASA