We do not leave Earth. We choose it.
For the first time in more than half a century, human beings are no longer in Earth orbit. On Thursday night, the four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission fired their engines and broke free, sending their Orion capsule racing toward the moon at 24,000 miles per hour — a moment that hadn't happened since Apollo 17 carried the last men to the lunar surface in December 1972.
The engine burn, called translunar ignition, came roughly 25 hours after liftoff. NASA had kept the crew close to home for that first day deliberately, using the time to run the capsule's life-support systems through their paces before committing to the journey. When Mission Control finally gave the go-ahead, the burn was, by all accounts, flawless. The Orion capsule peeled away from Earth orbit and set its course for the moon, some 250,000 miles distant.
NASA's Lori Glaze broke the news at a press conference with barely contained joy. Human beings, she told the room, had left Earth orbit for the first time since Apollo 17. The crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — were already watching their home planet shrink behind them. Hansen described the view as phenomenal. He and his crewmates, he said, were pressed against the capsule's windows as Earth fell away.
The four of them carry a particular weight of history. Glover is the first Black astronaut to travel toward the moon. Koch is the first woman. Hansen is the first person who is not an American citizen to make the journey. Apollo's 24 lunar travelers were all white men. That era is now, unmistakably, over.
The mission profile calls for a free-return trajectory — a figure-eight loop that uses the gravitational pull of Earth and moon together to carry the crew around the far side of the moon and slingshot them back home without requiring a landing. On Monday, Orion will swing within 4,000 miles of the lunar surface, giving the crew views of the moon's far side that no human eyes have ever witnessed directly. The geometry of the flyby will also produce something rare: a total solar eclipse, as the moon passes between the crew and the sun.
Before all of that, though, the mission had its share of early friction. The capsule's toilet malfunctioned almost immediately after reaching orbit Wednesday evening. Koch worked through the problem with guidance from Mission Control, eventually restoring function — but not before the crew had to rely on contingency urine storage bags. The cabin temperature also ran cold enough in the early hours that the astronauts had to dig warmer clothes out of their luggage. A valve issue with the water dispenser prompted Mission Control to have the crew fill those same contingency bags with more than two gallons of drinking water as a precaution, using straws and syringes to get the job done.
None of it derailed the mission. Mission Control woke the crew Thursday morning with John Legend's "Green Light" and a chorus of cheers from NASA teams around the country. "We are ready to go," Glover told the ground. Koch, for her part, offered the line that may define the mission's spirit: "With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it."
The Artemis II flight is explicitly a test — a dress rehearsal for what NASA hopes will become a sustained human presence near and on the moon. A lunar landing by two astronauts is targeted for 2028, and this mission is meant to prove that Orion and its systems can carry people safely through the full round trip. There are already notes for the next iteration: the toilet will need redesign before anyone spends serious time aboard.
The crew is due back on Earth on April 10. Between now and then, they will travel farther from home than any human beings in history, surpassing the distance record set involuntarily by the crew of Apollo 13 in 1970. They may also become the fastest humans ever, during reentry at mission's end. Monday's lunar flyby is the next milestone to watch.
Notable Quotes
For the first time since 1972 during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit.— Lori Glaze, NASA, at post-ignition press conference
With this burn to the moon, we do not leave Earth. We choose it.— Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter so much that this happened now, in 2026, rather than, say, ten years ago?
Because the gap itself is the story. Fifty-four years is a long time for a species to stay in its own backyard. This flight is proof that the machinery — political, technical, financial — finally aligned again.
The crew spent a full day in Earth orbit before heading to the moon. Was that caution, or something else?
Caution, deliberately built into the plan. They were testing life support, making sure the capsule could keep people alive before committing to a trajectory where turning back becomes much harder.
The toilet broke almost immediately. How seriously should we take that?
Seriously enough that NASA flagged it publicly. It's not mission-ending, but it's a reminder that the gap between a test flight and a sustained lunar presence is still wide. They're taking notes.
Koch's line — "we do not leave Earth, we choose it" — what does that actually mean?
I think it's about the psychological weight of departure. You're not being expelled from home. You're making a deliberate act. There's agency in it, and maybe comfort.
Hansen being the first non-American to go toward the moon — does that change what the mission represents internationally?
It does. Apollo was an American achievement, full stop. This is framed differently — as something humanity is doing, with Canada as a genuine partner, not a spectator.
The free-return trajectory means they can't stop at the moon. Is that a limitation or a feature?
For this mission, it's a feature. It's the safest possible route — gravity does most of the work, and there's no landing risk. The landing comes later, in 2028, if this goes well.
What's the thing most people will miss about this story?
Probably the water bags. Two gallons of drinking water, filled with straws and syringes, as a precaution against a faulty valve. That's what spaceflight actually looks like — improvisation inside a very expensive machine.