On day two of their 10-day mission, the four astronauts aboard the Artemis II Orion spacecraft are beginning their trip to the moon. The mission, which lifted off yesterday evening, marks the first time humans have visited the satellite in over 50 years. While the launch was a success, the crew ran into a couple of technical snags shortly thereafter, including an issue with the fan on their onboard toilet—the first of its kind on a manned mission.
With that resolved, they’re completing two elliptical orbits of Earth before preparing for a translunar injection burn tonight, shortly after 8 p.m. EDT. If they get the greenlight from NASA, they’ll be on a trajectory to loop around the moon on day six, and head back to Earth. (If not, they’ll return to Earth.)
If you’re interested in monitoring this historic mission, there are several options available, but first, here’s a rough timeline of the rest of the mission. On day four (April 4), the Orion spacecraft will be halfway between the Earth and the moon, and will beam back images of both. On day five (April 5), the craft will pass into lunar space, where the moon’s gravity is stronger than Earth’s. There, the crew will perform some emergency drills, conduct spacesuit tests, and could correct their trajectory with another burn.
Read more: “The Violent Birth of the Moon”
Day six is when things get really interesting. On April 6, the crew will make their closest approach to the moon, around 5,000 miles above the surface and farther than any human being has traveled before. They’ll spend a few hours observing and taking images of the moon, including Mare Orientale on the dark side of the moon, a sight never before glimpsed by human eyes. They’ll also witness a total solar eclipse and take images of comet C/2026 A1 as it heads toward the sun.
If you’d like to monitor their progress, NASA’s Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW) allows you to track the mission and see views from any of the five cameras mounted on the Orion capsule, bandwidth permitting (there’s also an AROW app for your phone).
This stream provides live views from the Orion spacecraft (again, bandwidth permitting), and also lets you eavesdrop on some chatter between the crew and mission control. During days four and six of the mission, you’ll be able to see live views broadcast in 4K resolution via NASA’s laser-based O2O system. If you’d like more commentary and context, you can check out this official stream of live mission coverage, which features a view of the control room and will also cover the splashdown on day 10.
Now you’ve got everything you need to be your very own mission control. 
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Lead image: NASA/Bill Ingalls
