NASA successfully launched the Artemis II mission on Wednesday, (April 1), at 2235 UTC from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B, marking the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, standing 32 stories tall, ignited its twin solid rocket boosters and four RS-25 engines to generate 8.8 million pounds of thrust, lifting the Orion spacecraft named "Integrity" into space.
The four-person crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (Commander), Victor Glover (Pilot), and Christina Koch (Mission Specialist), alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen (Mission Specialist), who became the first Canadian and non-U.S. citizen to travel to the Moon's vicinity.
Close to three and a half hours into the Artemis 2 mission, pilot Victor Glover took control of Orion after the capsule separated from the Space Launch System rocket's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS. Glover will now manually pilot Orion around ICPS, carrying out a series of maneuvers designed to test the spacecraft's propulsion systems and ability to operate in close proximity to another object in space.
"I see it. Look at that, woohoo! I see the ICPS and the moon in the field of view," Glover said during NASA's live broadcast of the mission.
These tests, known as proximity operations or "prox ops," are a key part of this test flight and will evaluate Orion's ability to fly near and interface with future Artemis program hardware such as the lunar lander that will eventually be chosen for NASA's planned moon landings.
"It's quite nice and very responsive," Glover said, referencing the spacecraft's Digital Autopilot (DAP) system.
The 10-day mission is a lunar flyby that will not involve a landing but will travel approximately 250,000 miles from Earth, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by reaching 4,600 miles beyond the Moon's far side.
Key mission objectives include testing Orion's life support and navigation systems, performing an in-space rendezvous with the spent Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, and validating emergency procedures for future lunar landings.
The crew is expected to perform a translunar injection burn to commit to the Moon, fly around the lunar far side, and return to Earth for a planned **splashdown in the Pacific Ocean** around April 11, 2026. This flight serves as the critical second step in NASA's Artemis program, paving the way for **Artemis III (lunar landing in 2027)** and the eventual establishment of a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
