The engine firing provided a slingshot-like boost to the Orion capsule, speeding it up to some 25,000 mph, the velocity needed to break free of Earth's gravitational clasp for a trek to the moon.

After a successful rocket launch at Cape Canaveral, NASA’s first crewed mission of the Artemis program continued making strides on Thursday, while in the elliptical orbit around Earth.

The six-minute engine burn successfully propelled the Orion spacecraft on its journey to the far side of the Moon, Nasa says.

The Artemis II astronauts, after saying goodbye to family and friends, were strapped into their seats aboard the Orion spacecraft by early afternoon, hours before the launch window opened at 6:24 p.m. Eastern time. As the astronauts sat, NASA continued with checks to ensure the safety of the crew before liftoff.

Astronauts aboard the ISS watched Artemis II launch live on NASA TV and later spotted the rocket’s trail over the Pacific. The stunning view from orbit shows how the spacecraft cut through Earth’s atmosphere—watch this rare perspective.

While Artemis III will conduct further docking tests in Earth’s orbit, Artemis IV, the launch of which is ambitiously set for 2028, aims to land astronauts on the moon’s south pole. Washington is in a new space race to return to the moon, with China on target for a planned crewed mission to the same lunar region as early as 2030.

NASA's Artemis II astronauts will spend about 24 hours orbiting the Earth and running checks on their spacecraft and life support systems before heading to the moon.

Find out how to track Artemis II in real time as it orbits the moon and whether it can be seen from Earth during its mission.

Earth’s gravity will accelerate the returning spacecraft to a blistering 25,000 mph (7 miles per second). The crew will endure a fiery, bumpy plunge through the atmosphere before a scheduled April 10 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

CNN affiliate KCBS/KCAL’s Hunter Sowards has the story.