Milan, 3 April (LaPresse) – Having completed the crucial trans-lunar injection manoeuvre, the Orion spacecraft and the Artemis II crew are officially en route to the Moon. Mission Control in Houston has confirmed that the manoeuvre, which took place 25 hours after lift-off, appears to have been successful, allowing the rest of the mission to proceed as planned, including the return to Earth and splashdown on the tenth day of the mission. The trans-lunar injection manoeuvre, essential for increasing Orion’s speed and enabling the spacecraft to leave Earth’s circular orbit and transition to an elliptical orbit that will help it reach the Moon, lasted five minutes and 50 seconds, according to NASA. The last time humans left Earth’s orbit was in 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission.