We hear from the teams here in the Eagle room at ESA Nederland that the European Service Module thrusters are working flawlessly. The reaction control thrusters are having a great performance and allowing for precise manoeuvres during the proximity operations.

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." - John F. Kennedy.

For the first time since 1972, NASA has launched a crewed moon mission.

Next up: Orion upper stage separation burn at 03:27 UTC followed by the ICPS disposal burn and cubesat deploy.
Timeline

A close look at Artemis II Orion and ICPS. The sped up video spans the period from 03:16:18 to 03:27:31 UTC.

Artemis II and four humans are on the way towards the Moon!

Godspeed Artemis II! Our crew on the Space Station stayed up to watch the launch of our friends on their historic mission to the Moon. We were over the Northern Pacific Ocean at the time of launch, so we couldn’t see it directly (we watched it on NASA TV).

However, about a half hour later, as we orbited a few hundred kilometers from Florida, I was able to catch a glimpse of the remnants of the trail the rocket made as it passed through the atmosphere! You can see the effect of the wind at different altitudes.

Here's a recap of the trajectory the Artemis II crew is taking around the Moon.

After the TLI (Trans-lunar injection) burn near Earth, there will be three minor course corrections on the way to the moon and three more on the way back, but no burns will be required during the approach or to initiate a return. The Moon's gravity will do the work. This is known as a free-return trajectory.

The Artemis II crew has blasted off for the moon on a historic rocket launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen are now riding high in the Orion spacecraft as the first humans to head back to the moon in more than 50 years.

The rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. EDT on April 1 — one of the final launch windows available to meet NASA’s April 30 mission deadline.

Artemis II has been fraught with delays in recent months, but on April Fool's Day, NASA's gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule took off without any significant issues. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to Florida's Space Coast to watch the launch in person, while millions more tuned in around the world to watch NASA's live broadcast.

The Artemis II crew is now embarking on a 10-day spaceflight, which will take them around the far side of the moon, travelling farther and faster than any humans in history, before they return home to Earth.

The record-breaking mission is set to establish a number of historic firsts. NASA's Koch is on her way to becoming the first woman in history to go beyond low Earth orbit and the first woman to visit the lunar environment, while NASA's Glover is on his way to becoming the first Black astronaut to venture beyond low Earth orbit and visit the lunar environment.

You may have heard about the now infamous toilet aboard the Orion capsule breaking down and fortunately being fixed, but what does it actually look like? Find out on this toilet tour with an astronaut.

After you can Take a tour of NASA’s new ride to the moon to see more details and video tours of an Orion replica.

50 years ago Apple was founded, today astronauts are using iPhones on their way to the moon

The European Space Agency will negotiate future participation in NASA missions after the US space agency revamped its lunar program, the ESA head told AFP Wednesday.

The US space agency announced recently it is suspending its so-called Gateway lunar orbital space station efforts in order to focus on building a base on the moon's surface.

This left the European role in future exploration unclear. The ESA had an agreement with NASA for three astronaut flights to Gateway.

"The Gateway is postponed, therefore I will need to sit down with the administrator, that means Jared Isaacman, and the NASA team, to negotiate how these seats that have been earmarked for the Gateway can be utilized for the surface," ESA head Josef Aschbacher told AFP, speaking in English.

A German astronaut had been slated to fly first, followed by a French astronaut and later an Italian.

Aschbacher was speaking from the Kennedy Space Center, where phase two of the Artemis program proceeded Wednesday with a successful rocket launch of three Americans and one Canadian astronaut on a mission to fly around the moon.

The ESA director general said "this is a discussion that needs to take place right now."

"How many seats for the surface flight, or under which conditions, or what is the countervalue that Europe needs to bring into this bargaining and this discussion?" he said.

"The goal is to have Europeans walking on the moon," said Aschbacher, an Austrian who has helmed ESA since 2021.

"But of course, the dream, or the objective, is that eventually Europe develops its own technologies and capacities to have more autonomy on human spaceflight."

COMING UP: in a few hours at 23:43 UTC, a final burn will send the crew on their way to the Moon. This will be performed by our European Service Module's main engine.