Artemis II: First crewed flight to the Moon since Apollo – infographic

2023-03-28 - During Artemis II, four astronauts will fly around the Moon in the Orion capsule. The approximately 10-day flight test will pave the way for lunar surface missions, including landing the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon.  (Credits: Canadian Space Agency, NASA)

The infographic includes a representation of Earth, the Moon, and the Orion spacecraft. A curvy line marks the expected flight path of the mission. Eight arrows along the flight path indicate Orion's direction. The arrows are numbered to correspond to the following steps.

Outbound transit (approximately 4 days)

• Step 1: Launch from Kennedy Space Center on the Space Launch System.
• Step 2: Raise manoeuvres set Orion on high Earth orbit. This step will involve one or more engine burns.
• Step 3: Proximity operations. Crew take over controls to demonstrate manual handling of Orion.
• Step 4: Life systems checkout in high Earth orbit.
• Step 5: Translunar injection, which sets Orion on course to the Moon. This step will involve one or more engine burns.
• Step 6: Lunar fly-by about 10,400 km beyond the far side of the Moon. This step will involve one or more engine burns.

Return transit (approximately 4 days)

• Step 7: Inbound flight. This step involves one or more engine burns.
• Step 8: Re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

On the infographic, it says that the mission duration will be approximately 10 days, and that the distance travelled will be over 1 million kilometres.