The United States has launched the Artemis II mission from Florida, sending four astronauts on a historic trip around the moon and becoming the first country to send humans beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.
The launch on Wednesday marks a crucial moment in NASA’s long-term ambition to return humans to the lunar surface and eventually send astronauts to Mars.
The towering 32-storey rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral before a crowd of tens of thousands who gathered to witness the historic moment.
On board Artemis II are NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
The crew is expected to spend close to 10 days in space, flying around the moon and back while travelling farther from Earth than any humans have in decades.
“On this historic mission, you take with you the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the launch director. “Good luck, Godspeed Artemis II. Let’s go.”
Only five minutes after liftoff, commander Wiseman looked out and spotted their destination.
“We have a beautiful moonrise, we’re headed right at it,” he said from the capsule.
There had been nervous moments before the launch, especially during the fueling stage. Hydrogen fuel had previously caused a dangerous leak during an earlier countdown test, leading to months of delays.
This time, however, NASA reported no major hydrogen leaks. The launch team was able to load more than 700,000 gallons, or 2.6 million litres, of fuel into the Space Launch System rocket without incident.
Several technical problems also had to be addressed before launch. One issue involved commands not reaching the rocket’s flight-termination system, which is responsible for destroying the rocket if it veers off course and poses a danger to populated areas.
NASA said that problem was resolved quickly. Engineers also worked on a battery in Orion’s launch-abort system after temperature readings fell outside the normal range.
The issue was fixed in time and did not stop the launch from proceeding.
The crew will now spend their first one to two days in high Earth orbit carrying out a series of checks on Orion’s key systems.
These tests include the spacecraft’s life-support, propulsion, navigation and communications equipment to ensure it is ready for the journey into deep space.
After completing those checks, Orion will carry out an engine burn known as translunar injection. This maneuver will push the spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit and send it on its path toward the moon.
The astronauts will spend several days travelling through space while continuing to monitor the spacecraft as they move farther away from Earth.
Once near the moon, Orion will pass behind it using a free-return trajectory. This route allows the gravity of the moon and Earth to guide the spacecraft back home while using very little fuel. It will also be the point at which the astronauts are farthest from Earth.
The return trip will take several more days, during which the crew will conduct additional tests on Orion’s power systems, thermal controls and onboard operations.
As the mission comes to an end, the capsule will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 40,233 kilometres per hour, or 25,000 miles per hour, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Recovery teams will then retrieve the astronauts.
NASA is presenting Artemis as a moon mission for a new generation, especially since much of the world’s population was born long after the Apollo era ended.
“There are a lot of people who don’t remember Apollo. There are generations who weren’t alive when Apollo launched. This is their Apollo,” NASA science mission chief Nicky Fox said earlier this week.
