The trajectory of Artemis II isn't a straight path to the Moon! Orion first enters a parking orbit around Earth (which you see as the loop around Earth once it launches in the video), then performs Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI), the burn that sends the spacecraft onto its translunar trajectory. In other words, this is when Orion hops onto its free-return trajectory to the Moon, which looks like a figure-8 in this video from NASA!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/33977863-c648-4e1f-a67d-38b57f7c3b63/the-trajectory-of-artemis-ii-isn-t-a-straight-path-to-the-moonRSS for NodeFri, 01 May 2026 19:56:30 GMTThu, 02 Apr 2026 23:39:10 GMT60TLI was successful!! We're now off to the Moon! 244,000 miles to go.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://threads.net/ap/users/17841401909623840/post/18164131228421047/https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://threads.net/ap/users/17841401909623840/post/18164131228421047/Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:14 GMTThis burn is carefully designed to place Orion on its free-return trajectory so that the Moon's gravity will naturally swing it back toward Earth without requiring a major burn. It's both a safety feature and a fuel-saving maneuver!

The TLI burn is scheduled for 4:49 pm PDT today. It'll last 5 minutes and 49 seconds and increase the spacecraft's velocity by about 1,274 ft/s (≈388 m/s).

TLI happens in about 10 minutes!!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://threads.net/ap/users/17841401909623840/post/17907745425206002/https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://threads.net/ap/users/17841401909623840/post/17907745425206002/Thu, 02 Apr 2026 23:39:10 GMT