From NASA: “After a successful translunar injection burn on April 2 and a roughly eight-hour crew rest period, the Artemis II crew began their second full day in space, settling into the rhythm of deep‑space operations. Upon burn completion, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, became the first people to leave Earth’s orbit since the Apollo program in 1972.
The team in the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, woke the crew at 1 p.m. EDT, playing “…In a Daydream,” by the Freddy Jones Band to begin the day’s schedule. Today’s activities include the first outbound trajectory correction burn (OTC), Orion spacecraft operations, lunar science prep, and crew health demonstrations. At wakeup, the spacecraft and its crew were approximately 99,900 (160,773 km) statute miles from Earth and approaching the Moon at 161,750 statute miles (260,311 km).
Refining the path to the Moon
Later Friday, the crew will prepare for their first OTC burn, currently scheduled for 6:49 p.m. EDT- The burn will last approximately eight seconds and change Orion’s velocity by 0.7 feet per second. Trajectory correction burns are planned firings that fine‑tune the Orion spacecraft’s path after major maneuvers. Using Orion’s thrusters, the OTC burn adjusts velocity and trajectory to ensure the spacecraft reaches the precise point in space needed for upcoming lunar operations.
Moon illumination and cabin setup for lunar flyby
The lunar science team in mission control is selecting geologic features on the Moon’s surface that will be visible to the crew as Orion loops around it on Monday, April 6. During the six-hour lunar science observation period, the Sun, Moon, and the Orion spacecraft will be aligned such that the crew will see about 20% of the Moon’s far side, the hemisphere not visible from Earth, lit by the Sun. Visible far-side features will include several never before seen with unaided eyes, such as the full Orientale basin, Pierazzo crater, and Ohm crater.
Inside Orion, the four crew members will practice preparing the cabin for lunar observations. This includes stowing equipment, setting up cameras, and practicing the choreography of moving in microgravity within a space about the size of two minivans.
They will configure their handheld cameras with the 80-400-millimeter and 14-24-millimeter lenses that will be used during Monday’s lunar flyby.
Health and space communications demonstrations
The crew also will conduct a CPR and choking‑response demonstration to evaluate emergency medical procedures aboard the spacecraft. All four crewmembers also will continue regular exercise sessions using Orion’s flywheel device to maintain cardiovascular conditioning.
In the second half of the day, Koch will test Orion’s emergency communications system on the Deep Space Network, verifying its performance as the spacecraft travels farther from Earth. The Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System connected with its two U.S.-based ground stations, transmitting high-definition video and other mission data from the capsule to Earth. This data was immediately relayed to mission control in Houston.”