Liftoff! Artemis II Astronauts Begin Historic Moon Mission

Crew starts journey that will take it farther from Earth than any human has ventured.

Jack Daleo

Thursday, April 02, 2026 at 09:32 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule carrying four astronauts blast off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT. [Credit: NASA | Joel Kowsky]

Key Takeaways:

Artemis II is NASA's first crewed mission to the moon in over half a century, sending four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon, though without a lunar landing.
The mission's primary goal is to test NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule with human astronauts, validating the spacecraft's performance and a mission profile critical for future lunar landings.
Key objectives include conducting a proximity operations demonstration, deploying international CubeSats for various experiments, and gathering scientific data on radiation exposure and the Orion life support system.
Despite being behind schedule and over budget, the success of Artemis II is pivotal for the broader Artemis campaign, which aims for human lunar landings by Artemis IV in 2028 and the eventual establishment of a permanent moon base.

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For the first time in more than half a century, human astronauts are heading to the moon.

Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida erupted in flames Wednesday evening as the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket fired its boosters and engines, generating 8.8 million pounds of thrust and sending four astronauts—three American, one Canadian—on a 10-day trip around the moon and back.