Artemis II Begins Historic Moon Flight

NASA’s Artemis II mission launched Wednesday from Florida, sending four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on a planned 10-day journey around the Moon and back. The Space Launch System rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B at 6:35 p.m. EDT.

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen are conducting the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program. The flight is designed to test Orion’s life-support and other spacecraft systems with astronauts aboard while laying the groundwork for future lunar missions.

After reaching orbit, Orion deployed its solar arrays and began initial flight operations. The rocket’s upper stage is scheduled to place the spacecraft into a high Earth orbit before Orion separates and prepares for its translunar journey. Four CubeSats from Argentina, Germany, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are also expected to deploy during the mission to conduct scientific and technology investigations.

If systems remain operational, Orion will perform a lunar flyby on April 6, allowing the crew to photograph and study portions of the Moon’s far side before using lunar gravity to return to Earth. The astronauts are scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean after completing the test flight.