Artemis II Launches: Four Astronauts Begin Humanity’s First Moon Voyage in Over 50 Years

NASA’s Artemis II mission roared off the launchpad Wednesday evening from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending four astronauts on the first crewed journey to the moon since the Apollo era ended in 1972. The massive Space Launch System rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. EDT, carrying the Orion spacecraft and its crew on what is expected to be a 10-day mission to loop around the far side of the moon and return safely to Earth.
The crew — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — made history the moment they left low Earth orbit. Glover became the first person of color, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American to travel beyond the immediate neighborhood of our planet. The crew is now orbiting Earth and preparing for the critical engine burn that will send them on their way to the moon Thursday evening.
If all goes according to plan, the astronauts will travel approximately 252,000 miles from Earth — farther than any human has ever ventured — and get an unprecedented close-up view of the lunar far side. The mission is a test flight designed to check Orion’s life support systems with a crew aboard for the first time, laying the groundwork for future Artemis missions that aim to land astronauts on the moon’s surface by 2028.
Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean is targeted for April 10. On Cue VI will follow the mission as it progresses.