The SLS (Space Launch System) launches with the
Artemis II crew aboard the Orion spacecraft on April 1, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy
Space Center in Florida.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Spurred by American ingenuity, astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission are
in flight, preparing for the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.
NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System)
rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in
Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT Wednesday, sending four astronauts aboard the Orion
spacecraft on a planned test flight around the Moon and back.
“Today’s launch marks a defining
moment for our nation and for all who believe in 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. Aboard Orion are four remarkable explorers preparing
for the first crewed flight of this rocket and spacecraft, a true test mission
that will carry them farther and faster than any humans in a generation,” said
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Artemis II is the start of something bigger
than any one mission. It marks our return to the Moon, not just to visit, but
to eventually stay on our Moon Base, and lays the foundation for the next giant
leaps ahead.”
The successful launch is the
beginning of an approximately 10-day mission for NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman,
Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy
Hansen. As the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program, among its objectives, the flight will
demonstrate life support systems for the first time with crew and lay the
foundation for an enduring presence on the Moon ahead of future missions to
Mars.
After reaching space, Orion
deployed its solar array wings, enabling the spacecraft to receive energy from
the Sun, while the crew and engineers on the ground immediately began
transitioning the spacecraft from launch to flight operations to start checking
out key systems.
“Artemis II is a test flight, and
the test has just begun. The team that built this vehicle, repaired it, and
prepared it for flight has given our crew the machine they need to go prove
what it can do,” said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya. “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. We are one mission into a long campaign, and the work ahead of us
is greater than the work behind us.”
About 49 minutes into the test
flight, the SLS rocket’s upper stage fired to put Orion into an elliptical
orbit around Earth. A second planned burn by the stage will propel Orion, which
the crew named “Integrity,” into a high Earth orbit extending about 46,000
miles beyond Earth. After the burn, Orion will separate from the stage, flying
free on its own.
In several hours, a ring on the
rocket’s upper stage, which will be a safe distance away from the spacecraft,
will deploy four CubeSats – small satellites from Argentina’s Comisión Nacional
de Actividades Espaciales, German Aerospace Center, Korea AeroSpace
Administration, and Saudi Space Agency – to perform scientific investigations
and technology demonstrations.
The spacecraft will remain in high
Earth orbit for about a day, where the crew will conduct a manual pilot
demonstration to test Orion’s handling capabilities. The astronauts, with
Mission Control Center teams at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, will
continue checking spacecraft systems.
If all systems remain healthy,
mission controllers will give Orion’s European-built service module a command
to conduct the translunar injection burn on Thursday, April 2. This move is an
approximately six-minute firing to send the spacecraft on a trajectory that
will simultaneously carry crew around the Moon, while also harnessing lunar
gravity to slingshot them back to Earth.
During a planned multi-hour lunar
flyby on Monday, April 6, the astronauts will take photographs and provide
observations of the Moon’s surface as the first people to lay eyes on some
areas of the far side. Although the lunar far side will only be partially
illuminated during the flyby, the conditions should create shadows that stretch
across the surface, enhancing relief and revealing depth, ridges, slopes and
crater rims that are often difficult to detect under full illumination. Crew
observations and other human health scientific investigations during the
mission, such as AVATAR, will inform science during future Moon missions.
Following a successful lunar flyby,
the astronauts will return to Earth and splash down in the Pacific Ocean.
As part of Golden Age of innovation
and exploration, NASA will send Artemis astronauts on increasingly difficult
missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic
benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Follow the latest mission progress, including more images from the test flight, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/
Source: Liftoff! NASA Launches Astronauts on Historic Artemis Moon Mission - NASA
