Part 2 — The Journey

What you're seeing

Orion orbits Earth in a circle — the same orbit from Part 1. The Moon orbits too, further out, much slower.

The BOOST fires a burst of speed in the direction Orion is already moving. This stretches the circular orbit into a long ellipse — like pulling a rubber band.

The trick is timing. The boost always adds the same speed. But the ellipse shoots out in whatever direction Orion is heading at that moment. If the Moon happens to be there when the ellipse arrives — you're going to the Moon.

If not — you've launched into empty space. Lost.

Artemis II: On April 2nd, mission controllers waited for exactly the right moment in Orion's orbit, then fired the ICPS upper stage for 18 minutes. The timing had to be precise — fire too early or too late, and the stretched orbit misses the Moon entirely. Like a quarterback throwing to where the receiver will be, not where they are now.