Florida, April 3 -- The crew of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Artemis II mission on Friday successfully cleared Earth's orbit and is now on course toward the Moon, marking a historic step in humanity's return to deep space exploration.

According to NASA, the Orion spacecraft executed a critical translunar injection burn, igniting its main engine for approximately six minutes to propel the crew beyond Earth's gravitational influence and set them on a trajectory for a lunar flyby.

The manoeuvre generated about 6,000 pounds of thrust, placing the spacecraft on a precise path toward Earth's nearest celestial neighbour.

NASA confirmed that the Artemis II mission management team gave a unanimous "Go" for the burn, ...