Artemis II: Mission control cancels first outbound trajectory correction burn. Here's why

Artemis II is officially in its third day of flight and things are going pretty well. In fact, they are going so well that mission control in Houston did not feel the need for Orion to perform its first outbound trajectory correction burn scheduled for the day, according to NASA. 

But was mission control surprised that the correction burn was not needed? "No. Not at all," said ascent flight director Judd Frieling during a press briefing on April 3. "I think it's really good to see that we don't need these minor correction burns. It shows that our navigation performance and our ability to get ranging have been outstanding," added Orion program manager Howard Hu. In fact, this isn't the first time NASA could afford to skip a correction burn on a Moon-bound mission. "I know we skipped one correction burn on Artemis I," Hu noted further.

The burn in question was the first of the three trajectory adjustment maneuvers meant to refine Orion's velocity and path on its way to the vicinity of the Moon. And while it was cancelled, any future course correction adjustments required may be incorporated into the burns that are to follow. The maneuver would have followed the translunar injection burn (TLI) that was performed yesterday. It shot the crew - NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen - out of Earth's orbit (the first time this has happened since 1972) to send them towards the Moon and, in doing so, also set them on a free-return trajectory back to Earth.

As for other Day 3 activities, they include demonstrating CPR procedures, checking out Orion's medical kit, and testing the spacecraft's emergency communication system on the Deep Space Network. The schedule also involves the crew preparing for the scientific observations they will make on Monday, April 6, during the six-hour lunar flyby—essentially the main event of the mission. NASA reports that during the flyby, the Sun, the Moon, and the spacecraft will be aligned such that about 20% of the far side of the Moon will be illuminated by the Sun. This will allow the astronauts to observe the full Orientale basin, the Pierazzo crater, and the Ohm crater. The handheld cameras accompanying the crew will be fitted with 80-400 millimeter and 14-24 millimeter lenses to enable them to capture these features. They will also get to see a solar eclipse once they are behind the Moon.

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