NASA's Artemis II astronauts successfully broke free of Earth's orbit after firing their engines, putting them on course for a lunar fly-around early next week.

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts fired their engines and blazed toward the moon Thursday night, breaking free of the chains that have trapped humanity in shallow laps around Earth in the decades since Apollo. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and a Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week.