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Artemis II crew to prepare for perigee raise burn soon – Here's how to track NASA’s historic Moon mission in real time

April 02, 2026 7 min read Science & Technology GS Paper 3
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What Happened

  • The Artemis II crew successfully completed the perigee raise burn on April 2, 2026 — a 43-second engine firing of Orion's service module main engine that raised the lowest point of the spacecraft's orbit and refined its trajectory.
  • This manoeuvre placed Orion into a stable high Earth orbit aligned with its path to the Moon, following the earlier apogee raise burn and proximity operations with the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS).
  • The burn raised Orion's perigee (closest point to Earth in orbit) to eliminate re-entry risk and position the spacecraft correctly for the next critical manoeuvre: Translunar Injection (TLI).
  • TLI is scheduled for approximately 7:49 pm EDT on April 3, 2026 — a 5-minute 49-second engine burn that will commit the crew to the lunar free-return trajectory, sending them farther from Earth than any human has ever travelled.
  • Mission management teams assessed spacecraft systems after the burn; all systems reported nominal for the upcoming TLI burn.
  • The Artemis II mission carries four astronauts: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Koch (NASA) and Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency).

Static Topic Bridges

Orbital Mechanics — Perigee, Apogee, and Trajectory Burns

Orbital mechanics (or astrodynamics) is the application of Newtonian physics and celestial mechanics to the motion of spacecraft. Key terms: Perigee — the closest point of an elliptical orbit to Earth; Apogee — the farthest point. A spacecraft in an elliptical orbit moves faster at perigee and slower at apogee (Kepler's Second Law). To change an orbit, spacecraft fire their engines in controlled burns — the direction, duration, and timing of the burn determine the new orbital parameters.

  • Perigee raise burn: Fires engines at or near apogee to raise the perigee — used to prevent unintended re-entry and shape the orbit for subsequent manoeuvres.
  • Apogee raise burn: Fires engines at or near perigee to raise the apogee — used to increase the orbit's highest point.
  • Delta-v (Δv): The change in velocity produced by an engine burn — the fundamental currency of orbital manoeuvring. Artemis II's TLI burn produces a Δv of ~1,274 ft/sec (~388 m/s).
  • Translunar Injection (TLI): A prograde burn (in the direction of motion) that accelerates the spacecraft enough to escape Earth's gravity well and travel to the Moon. Apollo missions used Saturn V's S-IVB stage; Artemis II uses Orion's Service Module engine.
  • Free-return trajectory: A figure-eight path around the Moon and back to Earth that requires no additional propulsion after TLI — if engines fail, gravity alone returns the crew safely. Apollo 13 used this principle after its abort.
  • Proximity operations: Close-range manoeuvres to demonstrate Orion's ability to rendezvous and dock — critical for future Artemis missions using Gateway or HLS.

Connection to this news: The perigee raise burn is one of several sequential orbital manoeuvres building toward TLI — each step validates systems and positions Orion for the next, demonstrating the precision engineering required for deep space human missions.

Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion — Technical Overview

The Space Launch System (SLS) is NASA's heavy-lift launch vehicle designed specifically for deep space missions. Unlike commercial rockets (Falcon Heavy, Vulcan, New Glenn) optimised for LEO or GTO payloads, SLS is designed to send large crewed or uncrewed payloads directly to the Moon, Mars, or deep space destinations in a single launch. The Orion spacecraft it carries is the only NASA-certified vehicle for crewed beyond-LEO missions.

  • SLS Block 1 core stage: 4 RS-25 engines (retired Space Shuttle Main Engines, upgraded); generates ~2 million lbs thrust.
  • Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs): 2 five-segment SRBs derived from Space Shuttle boosters; each generates ~3.6 million lbs thrust. Total SLS liftoff thrust: ~8.8 million lbs.
  • Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS): Upper stage used on Artemis I and II; uses RL-10 engine; provides the initial orbital insertion and apogee raise burns after SRB/core stage separation.
  • Orion European Service Module (ESM): Provides main propulsion (1 x 33 kN AJ10-190 engine, 8 auxiliary engines), solar power (4 deployable arrays, ~11 kW), and life support consumables.
  • Orion Crew Module: Houses 4 crew; volume ~8.95 m³; uses parachute recovery for ocean splashdown; designed for ~21-day missions.
  • Heat shield: 5-metre diameter Avcoat ablative heat shield — the largest ever built — designed for ~11 km/s lunar return re-entry speed vs ~8 km/s for ISS missions.

Connection to this news: The perigee raise burn uses Orion's own service module engine — one of the first in-space firings of this engine in a crewed configuration, validating a system that will be essential for all future Artemis lunar missions including orbital manoeuvres near the Moon.

India's Space Programme and Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla

India's space programme, managed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has advanced significantly into human spaceflight ambitions. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla became the first Indian astronaut to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), launched in June 2025 — making him only the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma (1984, Soviet Soyuz T-11). Shukla was awarded the Ashoka Chakra (India's highest peacetime military honour) in January 2026. He is also one of the four astronauts selected for Gaganyaan — India's first domestic crewed spaceflight, targeted for 2027.

  • Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4): Launched June 25, 2025 on SpaceX Dragon from Kennedy Space Center; docked with ISS June 26, 2025; Shukla served as mission pilot.
  • Experiments on Ax-4: ~60 experiments total; at least 7 designated by ISRO, including research on plant growth in microgravity (relevant for long-duration missions) and fluid physics.
  • Gaganyaan: India's crewed LEO mission aboard GSLV Mk III; will carry 2-3 astronauts to 400 km orbit for 3-day mission; targeted 2027.
  • Four Gaganyaan astronauts selected: Shubhanshu Shukla, Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap — all Indian Air Force test pilots.
  • Artemis Accords: India signed in June 2023 — commits to peaceful, interoperable lunar exploration and sharing of scientific data.
  • Chandrayaan-3 (August 23, 2023): Vikram lander's soft landing near the lunar south pole made India the first country to achieve this; Pragyan rover confirmed presence of sulphur on lunar surface.

Connection to this news: While Shubhanshu Shukla is not part of the Artemis II crew, his Ax-4 mission and Gaganyaan training are part of the same era of renewed human lunar and deep-space ambitions — and India's Artemis Accords membership links its space future to the broader Artemis architecture that Artemis II is validating.

Human Spaceflight Milestones and Deep Space Exploration

The history of human spaceflight is defined by successive expansion of the envelope of how far humans have ventured from Earth. Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1 (1961) first put a human in orbit at approximately 327 km. The Apollo programme (1961-1972) extended this to 400,000 km. After Apollo, human spaceflight was confined to Low Earth Orbit (LEO, up to ~2,000 km) for over 50 years. Artemis II, expected to break the Apollo 13 distance record (~400,171 km), marks the return of human deep space exploration.

  • Vostok 1 (April 12, 1961): Yuri Gagarin, 108 minutes, maximum altitude ~327 km — first human in space.
  • Gemini 11 (1966): Achieved highest LEO altitude at 1,374 km — record for LEO.
  • Apollo 8 (December 1968): First crewed mission to lunar orbit; crew: Frank Borman, James Lovell, William Anders.
  • Apollo 13 (April 1970): Highest distance from Earth by humans — ~400,171 km — due to free-return trajectory after abort.
  • ISS altitude: ~400 km; ISS has hosted 273 people from 21 countries since 2000.
  • Artemis II expected peak distance: greater than Apollo 13's record of ~400,171 km.
  • First woman to the Moon: Christina Koch (Artemis II Mission Specialist) will be the first woman on a lunar trajectory.
  • First Canadian on a lunar trajectory: Jeremy Hansen (CSA).

Connection to this news: The perigee raise burn and impending TLI are the technical steps that will propel Artemis II beyond the Apollo distance record — the most concrete marker of humanity's return to deep space after half a century.

Key Facts & Data

  • Perigee raise burn duration: 43 seconds (Orion Service Module main engine)
  • Translunar Injection (TLI) scheduled: April 3, 2026, ~7:49 pm EDT
  • TLI burn duration: 5 minutes 49 seconds; Δv: ~1,274 ft/sec (~388 m/s)
  • Mission crew: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen
  • Orion spacecraft name: "Integrity"
  • Mission duration: ~10 days (free-return trajectory)
  • SLS total liftoff thrust: ~8.8 million lbs
  • Orion heat shield diameter: 5 metres
  • Apollo 13 distance record (current human record): ~400,171 km from Earth
  • Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing: August 23, 2023 (lunar south pole)
  • Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4): June 25, 2025; Shubhanshu Shukla — first Indian on ISS
  • Gaganyaan target: 2027; astronauts selected: Shukla, Nair, Krishnan, Pratap
  • India signed Artemis Accords: June 2023 (27th signatory)