NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket successfully lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.
The launch marks the beginning of an approximately 10 day test flight that will send the crew farther from Earth than any humans have traveled in a generation. Aboard Orion, named “Integrity” by the crew, are NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described the launch as a defining moment for the United States and for global exploration.
“Artemis II builds on the vision set by President Donald J. Trump, returning humanity to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years and opening the next chapter of lunar exploration beyond Apollo,” Isaacman said. “Aboard Orion are four remarkable explorers preparing for the first crewed flight of this rocket and spacecraft.”
The mission objectives include demonstrating life support systems with crew aboard for the first time and laying the groundwork for an enduring human presence on the Moon ahead of future missions to Mars.
Shortly after launch, Orion deployed its solar array wings to generate power from the Sun. The crew and ground teams at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston began transitioning the spacecraft from launch configuration to flight operations and initiated systems checkouts.
About 49 minutes into the flight, the SLS rocket’s upper stage performed a burn to place Orion into an elliptical orbit around Earth. A second burn by the upper stage is planned to propel the spacecraft into a high Earth orbit reaching approximately 46,000 miles from Earth. Orion is scheduled to separate from the upper stage afterward.
Later, a ring on the upper stage is expected to deploy four CubeSats developed by Argentina’s Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, the German Aerospace Center, the Korea AeroSpace Administration and the Saudi Space Agency. These small satellites will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations.
The crew will spend about a day in high Earth orbit, during which they plan to conduct a manual pilot demonstration to test Orion’s handling capabilities. Engineers will continue extensive checks of spacecraft systems.
If systems perform as expected, mission controllers plan to command the European-built service module to execute a translunar injection burn on Thursday, April 2. The approximately six-minute burn will send Orion on a trajectory toward the Moon, using lunar gravity for a return slingshot to Earth.
On Monday, April 6, the astronauts are scheduled to conduct a multi-hour lunar flyby. During the pass, they will photograph and observe the Moon’s surface, including areas on the far side that have not been viewed directly by humans in this manner. The partially illuminated far side is expected to produce long shadows that highlight surface features such as ridges, slopes and crater rims.
The mission will also include human health scientific investigations, including the AVATAR experiment, to gather data for future lunar surface missions.
Following the lunar flyby, Orion is scheduled to return to Earth and splash down in the Pacific Ocean.
NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya emphasized the test nature of the flight.
“Artemis II is a test flight, and the test has just begun,” Kshatriya said. “Over the next 10 days, Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy will put Orion through its paces so the crews who follow them can go to the Moon’s surface with confidence.”
The successful launch is described by NASA as the start of a broader campaign of increasingly complex Artemis missions aimed at scientific discovery, economic benefits and preparation for eventual crewed missions to Mars.