US launches historic Artemis II crewed mission around the moon

NASA's Artemis II rocket lifted off Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts on a historic journey around the moon – the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with the Orion spacecraft, launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time (2235 GMT).

The 10-day mission, a critical step in the US plan to return humans to the lunar surface this decade, includes three American astronauts and one Canadian.

According to a NASA livestream, the crew successfully entered Earth's orbit, where they will spend several days conducting tests before embarking on their lunar loop.

The Artemis program: returning humans to the moon

The mission marks NASA's first crewed mission under the Artemis program, which aims to establish a permanent US presence on the moon and support further exploration.

The four-member crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

"Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy, on this historic mission you take with you ​the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation," launch ​director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson told the crew through a communications line from launch control.

If all goes well, the Artemis II team will leave high Earth orbit Thursday for its three-day trip to the moon, looping around to capture new images and make naked-eye observations.

"This was amazing," said Sian Proctor, an American scientist who participated in a 2021 space mission.

"I'm just so happy that we're going back to the moon, and everybody should be excited and be following the next 10 days, because this is a big step for humanity," Proctor said.

NASA launched its first Artemis mission without crew in 2022, sending the Orion spacecraft on a similar path around the moon and back.

The Artemis II mission sets the stage for Artemis III, scheduled for 2027, which will launch a crew in the Orion spacecraft to test rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the moon. Artemis IV, planned for 2028, is expected to land astronauts on the moon, the first human lunar landing since 1972.

Milestones and firsts

After nearly three years of training, the Artemis II astronauts launched on the first crewed mission of NASA's multibillion-dollar Artemis program – established in 2017 – carrying the first woman, the first person of color, and the first non-American on a lunar flyby.

The crew team is expected to venture 406,000 kilometers into space, surpassing the distance traveled by Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970, setting a new record for the farthest humans have ever traveled.

The mission also constitutes a major test for Orion and the SLS rocket. Boeing and Northrop Grumman have led the development of SLS since 2010, a program partly known for its ballooning costs at an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion per launch.

The crew's Orion capsule, built by Lockheed Martin, will separate from the SLS upper ‌stage 3.5 hours into flight in Earth's orbit. The crew will then take manual control of Orion to test its steering and maneuverability around the detached upper stage, validating its life-support systems as part of dozens of test objectives planned throughout the mission.

Meanwhile, private aerospace companies are racing to develop lunar landers that NASA will use to land astronauts on the lunar surface, among which are Elon Musk's SpaceX ​and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

(With input from agencies)