CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: NASA successfully sent four astronauts on a journey around the moon on Wednesday, marking the first time humans have travelled beyond Earth’s orbit in more than half a century.
The powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Centre just before sunset, carrying the Orion spacecraft and its international crew into the sky. A bright trail of white vapour followed the 32-story rocket as it thundered into clear evening skies.
The crew includes three American astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch — and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. This is the first crewed flight of NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface later this decade.
A Historic Step Toward the Moon
If everything goes according to plan, the astronauts will spend nearly 10 days in space. They will fly around the moon and travel farther from Earth than any human has gone before — about 406,000 kilometres.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described the launch as the beginning of a new era. He said the mission paves the way for building a permanent base on the moon and eventually sending humans to Mars.
Minutes before liftoff, Jeremy Hansen told mission control: “This is Jeremy, we are going for all humanity.”
Dress Rehearsal for Moon Landing
Artemis II serves as a crucial test flight. It will check whether the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket are ready for future missions. NASA hopes to land astronauts on the moon’s South Pole by 2028 with Artemis IV — beating China’s planned crewed landing around 2030.
The last time humans walked on the moon was during NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
A few hours after launch, the rocket’s upper stage successfully separated from the Orion capsule. The crew then performed an early test by manually steering the spacecraft to prove it can be controlled if needed.
President Trump Praises the Mission
President Donald Trump praised the launch during a national address, saying: “They are on their way and God bless them. These are brave people.”
The successful launch came at a challenging time for NASA, which lost about 20 percent of its workforce last year due to federal downsizing.
This mission is a major milestone for Boeing and Northrop Grumman, the main contractors behind the SLS rocket. It also boosts confidence in America’s plan to establish a long-term presence on the moon.
