Latest is that they've fired up the engine and are on their way to the Moon.

There was a water issue that they think they've fixed but just in case, they're storing water in plastic bags. 😳 I kid you not.

 

I'm beginning to think this trip is not an April Fool's prank. 

31 minutes ago, Fielder said:

I'm beginning to think this trip is not an April Fool's prank. 

 

Its after 12 o'clock so it can't be or the fools on them. 👍

5 hours ago, martin-w said:

 

Its after 12 o'clock so it can't be or the fools on them. 👍

I am glad that you stick to the acknowledged rules.

Having gone all the way to the moon I'm surprised they're not going into orbit for a few laps. Just one chance to spot something interesting and if they miss it then they're stuffed!

Is the toilet only operational for so many flushes? 🤣

8 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Having gone all the way to the moon I'm surprised they're not going into orbit for a few laps. Just one chance to spot something interesting and if they miss it then they're stuffed!

 

 

It's only the second test flight, so it's performing a free-return trajectory to ensure astronaut safety. The trajectory provides a gravity powered return to Earth.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s window after completing the translunar injection burn. There are two auroras (top right and bottom left) and zodiacal light (bottom right) is visible as the Earth eclipses the Sun.

 

 

 

Edited April 3Apr 3 by martin-w

54 minutes ago, martin-w said:

 

It's only the second test flight, so it's performing a free-return trajectory to ensure astronaut safety. The trajectory provides a gravity powered return to Earth.

I can’t get my head around this. They’re outside the gravitational pull of the Earth. Surely it requires an engine to be started for a burn to return it to Earth.

54 minutes ago, martin-w said:

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture

He’s holding the camera upside down! 🤣

12 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I can’t get my head around this. They’re outside the gravitational pull of the Earth. Surely it requires an engine to be started for a burn to return it to Earth.

 

Nope. With the correct velocity and correct trajectory the Moons gravity pulls them round and back on path to Earth. The velocity is just fast enough to not get caught  in a Moon orbit. They aren't outside the Earths gravitational field, the Moon orbits the Earth, remember. 

 

 

Edited April 3Apr 3 by martin-w

We're very lucky to be able to see this type of thing.

How do you think you would feel if you were onboard and a 6inch bit of metal was all that was between you and trillions of miles of dark, empty nothingness? Would you feel afraid, or find some sort of weird comfort being in the capsule?

27 minutes ago, FPVSteve said:

How do you think you would feel if you were onboard

Many years ago in an earlier version of Microsoft Flight Simulator (I forget which version) I wondered if I could fly from Chicago to Las Angeles in the Cessna, using unlimited fuel. In those days there was just the two cities with nothing but an endless flat green plane in between.

I determined the correct course to fly and took off. The plane flew on rails, of course. After many hours, flying real time, about the middle of the flight, I realized I was a LONG way from anything at either end with nothing around me.  I remember thinking, "This is what they must have felt on the way to the Moon."

Hook

Great footage of the launch from the onboard camera.

39:50 solid rocket separation.