About three-quarters of the American population has not witnessed humans leaving low-Earth orbit in their lifetimes. The last time this occurred was 1972, with the final Apollo Moon mission.
The "translunar injection" burn of Orion's main engine occurred about one day after the successful launch of the mission on NASA's Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday.
"Things are going really well right now," said Lori Glaze, NASA's senior official over exploration, during a news conference on Thursday evening. "I don't think we could be more pleased.
