Name: Artemis II crews busy first day in space
Uploaded: 2026-04-02T16:18:23.818Z
Duration: 1 min 52 s
Description: The Artemis II crew is in space and is carrying out a full inspection of the Orion capsule that is required to get a green light to proceed toward the moon.

The Artemis II crew is in space and is carrying out a full inspection of the Orion capsule that is required to get a green light to proceed toward the moon.

The Artemis II crew began their mission with a demanding 24-hour period of systems testing, including manual control maneuvers and engine firings. A major focus was on verifying the Orion capsule's life support systems, particularly the CO2 removal technology, most of which had never been tested in space before.

NASA managers are scheduled to meet to decide if the crew will proceed with the translunar injection, committing them to a four-day journey to the moon. This decision is critical, as returning to Earth would take days instead of hours once the crew leaves Earth orbit.

Artemis II crew's busy first day in space

Late last night, Artemis II pilot Victor Glover took manual control for the first time, just the beginning of the crew's intense, highly scheduled 24 hours of systems testing and engine firings. It's just 24 hours of intense work. Reid Wiseman, the mission commander, told us it would be a crazy first day. We're going really, really far away, and that one 24-hour orbit gives us time to check out all of our environmental control life support systems. Can it scrub our carbon dioxide? Can it keep us alive? Can we drink water? We've got to go get those things tested before we press out to the moon. Ninety percent of this Orion capsule's life support system has never been tested before in space. The systems we're most focused on are the CO2 removal systems. Jeff Radigan is the mission's lead flight director. From mission control in Houston, he talked to us about CO2, carbon dioxide, a toxic byproduct of respiration. Orion has systems designed to scrub it from the crew's sealed cabin. In order to go to the moon, our CO2 scrubbing systems absolutely have to work. We can't go to the moon without them. That's a deal-breaker. It is a deal-breaker. NASA managers will meet later today for a critical decision, whether to approve sending the crew out of Earth orbit and off to the moon. It's the TLI engine burn, or translunar injection. After TLI, the crew's committed. They're days away from Earth if a major problem develops. There's always a few hours to Earth from the space station in your escape vehicle. And this mission, there will be points in the mission where we could come back in hours, but there may be days. Sometime this afternoon, we'll learn whether this mission turns into a true moonshot if NASA gives the crew the green light they're in for a four-day trip to the moon. Errol? Just remarkable. Mark Strassman, thank you very much.

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