The Orion spacecraft, flying to the Moon as part of the Artemis II mission with four astronauts on board, has left Earth’s orbit and is heading toward its natural satellite. On Thursday, April 2, at around 7:49 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (23:49 GMT), the spacecraft’s engines performed the so-called translunar injection burn, giving Orion enough acceleration to depart Earth orbit.

According to the NASA, preliminary reports indicate that this stage proceeded as planned. Thus, just over 25 hours passed between the mission’s launch and the beginning of its journey toward the Moon.

The Orion spacecraft was launched as part of the Artemis II lunar mission on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Over the course of 10 days, the crew is expected to fly around the Moon and return to Earth without landing on the lunar surface. Earth’s natural satellite is located nearly 400,000 kilometers away. The previous crewed flight to the Moon took place more than 50 years ago, on December 7, 1972, aboard Apollo 17.

The new Orion launch marked the second stage in the history of the United States’ new lunar program. In December 2022, the first stage of the program — Artemis I — was completed: Orion flew to the Moon in an uncrewed test mode, spent several weeks in lunar orbit, and returned to Earth. As part of the third stage, Artemis III, humans are expected to land on the Moon.