NASA successfully launched Artemis II on Wednesday evening, sending astronauts around the moon for the first time in more than half a century.
The launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. local time marked the start of a 10-day lunar mission, during which the Orion spacecraft is expected to come within several thousand miles of the moon’s surface.
Four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — are aboard the Orion. The crew nicknamed the spacecraft “Integrity.”
The mission is a historical milestone involving international coordination with the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency. The last time humans traveled to the moon was Apollo 17 in 1972, when two astronauts set foot on the lunar surface.
Artemis II does not involve a landing on the moon’s surface, but it is a key step toward NASA’s goal of returning humans to the moon and eventually sending them to Mars.
“You’re doing it for the scientific potential, economic potential, as a technological proving ground to do the things on the moon that you’re going to need on Mars,” Jared Isaacman, NASA administrator, said in an interview with CBS News on Tuesday.
During the mission, the astronauts will test Orion’s living and working conditions in deep space before returning to Earth.
A NASA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Artemis II mission will be a 10-day journey around the moon
Artemis II will be a critical mission to test the living conditions inside the Orion spacecraft over the next 10 days.
The first 24 hours will include multiple orbits around the Earth.
NASA expects Orion to reach the far side of the moon around flight day 6 before returning to Earth for splashdown around April 10 or 11.
The US space agency previously had to delay the Artemis II launch twice due to technical issues with the Orion spacecraft.
The 4 astronauts include 3 Americans and one Canadian
The Artemis II flight crew includes several firsts: Christina Koch, the mission specialist, is the first woman on a lunar mission; Victor Glover, the pilot, is the first person of color; and Jeremy Hansen, the other mission specialist, is the first Canadian.
Reid Wiseman, the mission commander, was previously a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station for a 165-day mission.
Orion, nicknamed Integrity, is built to withstand a return to Earth
Orion, the spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin, is designed to withstand a brutal journey from Earth to deep space and back.
On Artemis I, the uncrewed launch in 2022, Orion was sent 1.4 million miles beyond the Moon and back, according to NASA.
The space crew nicknamed the spacecraft Integrity.
NASA previously did an uncrewed test flight in preparation for Artemis II
In 2022, NASA flew Artemis I, an uncrewed mission, that tested the agency’s deep-space exploration system inside the Orion spacecraft.
The Artemis I launched on November 16, 2022, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022 — a 25-day mission.
Re-entry speed of the Orion was 24,581 mph, according to NASA.
Artemis II will be a stepping stone for missions beyond the moon
The Artemis II is not just the precursor for plans to land humans back on the moon.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a CBS News interview that the mission will be critical for deeper-space missions, namely Mars.
It’s “a stepping stone for all the things that we are going to do farther out into our solar system, like someday American astronauts planting the stars and stripes on Mars,” he said.
The next mission, Artemis III, is expected to test docking with commercial lunar landers that NASA will use to return humans to the moon’s surface. NASA is targeting a 2027 launch date.
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