Florida: NASA’s Artemis II Moon mission lifted off from the US state of Florida, carrying four astronauts on the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years.
The Space Launch System rocket, with the Orion spacecraft on top, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. (Eastern Time) Wednesday.
It is NASA’s first crewed mission under the Artemis program. The four-member crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, reports Xinhua news agency.
The launch countdown was briefly paused at the T-10 minute mark before resuming several minutes later.
The Artemis II mission will demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on deep space missions. It aims to validate Orion’s life-support systems and allow astronauts to practice operations critical to the success of Artemis III and subsequent lunar missions, according to NASA.
The crew will travel about 7,400 kilometres beyond the far side of the Moon before returning home. The mission will carry astronauts farther from Earth and nearer to the Moon than any human has been in over half a century.
Re-entry will be one of the most challenging phases. Orion is expected to hit Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of about 25,000 miles per hour, facing temperatures of around 5,000 degrees before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
During the mission, astronauts will evaluate spacecraft performance, practise emergency procedures, and capture images of the Moon’s far side.
The crew also represents several historic firsts. The mission includes the first woman, the first African-American astronaut, and the first Canadian to travel towards the Moon.
Artemis II is being positioned as the opening step in NASA’s broader plan to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.
The Artemis programme follows the Apollo missions, which sent 24 astronauts to the Moon between 1968 and 1972, including 12 who walked on its surface.
NASA aims to build on that legacy with a long-term lunar base and future missions targeting the Moon’s south pole later this decade, before pushing onward to Mars.
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