For the first time in more than 50 years, humans are once again traveling toward the Moon. At 6:35 p.m. Eastern on April 1, NASA successfully launched the Artemis II mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking a historic return to deep space exploration.
The 10-day mission will carry a four-member crew more than 400,000 kilometers from Earth, farther than any humans have traveled before. Shortly after liftoff, Commander Reid Wiseman described the moment, saying they were heading directly toward a “beautiful moonrise.”
Artemis II will fly past the Moon at an altitude of about 8,000 kilometers. Its main objective is to test the powerful Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft, both of which will play a key role in future missions such as Artemis IV and V, planned for a lunar landing in 2028.
The rocket reached supersonic speed and carried the astronauts into space within just eight minutes before its main engines separated and returned to Earth. Scientists and spectators watching the launch described it as a historic and emotional moment, highlighting it as the beginning of a new era of human space exploration.
In the hours following launch, the spacecraft will move into a high orbit above Earth, where the crew will spend about a day checking onboard systems. If all goes as planned, Orion will begin its journey toward the Moon on the second day, reaching its closest point to the lunar surface — and farthest distance from Earth — around day six.
