Artemis II, NASA's boldest mission in generations, launches crew to the Moon

Key Points:

• Four astronauts—three Americans and one Canadian—launched aboard NASA’s most powerful rocket, the 322-foot-tall Space Launch System (SLS), from Kennedy Space Center for the Artemis II mission, marking the first crewed flight in NASA’s Artemis program aimed at returning humans to the Moon.
• Artemis II is a nine-day mission testing NASA’s transportation system for lunar travel, including manual piloting demonstrations and life-support system checkouts, but it will not land on the Moon; the crew will orbit and travel farther from Earth than any humans have before, reaching over 252,000 miles.
• The Orion spacecraft will follow a free return trajectory around the Moon, using lunar gravity to slingshot back to Earth with a planned splashdown off California on April 10, while astronauts conduct critical maneuvers such as rendezvous and proximity operations with the rocket’s upper stage.
• Manual control tests of Orion’s spacecraft systems by pilot Victor Glover will assess handling and responsiveness, with the crew providing real-time feedback during close approaches to the upper stage, an essential step for future missions requiring docking with lunar landers.
• NASA emphasizes the importance of successful life-support system performance and overall spacecraft health before committing to the lunar trajectory; any major issues could lead to an early return to Earth.