April 2, 2026

The apogee raise burn was successfully completed, continuing to fine tune the Orion spacecraft’s orbit around Earth. The ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage) ignited its RL10 engine for a precisely timed burn that increased the highest point of the spacecraft’s orbit.

Ahead of the burn, the Artemis II crew began setting their spacecraft up for life in space. Among the tasks is a checkout of the toilet. During this operation, the crew called down to report a blinking fault light. The team on the ground is looking into what might be causing that issue and will be working with the crew to resolve it.

The Artemis II crew will now begin preparations for the proximity operations demonstration. This demonstration will test the Orion spacecraft’s ability to manually maneuver relative to another spacecraft, the ICPS, after separation, using its onboard navigation sensors and reaction control thrusters. Before the demonstration, Orion will have planned communications handover from NASA’s Near Space Network to the Deep Space Network. These two networks work in tandem to support Orion from the launch pad, around the Moon, and back to Earth.

ORION’S ORBIT FINE-TUNED, BUT TOILET GLITCH RAISES EYEBROWS — Artemis II’s apogee burn nails perfect orbit tweak, but astronauts spot blinking fault light during crucial toilet checkout, sparking quick ground probe. Next up: a high-stakes proximity ops demo where the crew pilots Orion within feet of its own rocket stage, testing nerve and tech as NASA’s deep space mission inches forward—every move critical, every system under the microscope.

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