All eyes were on Kennedy Space Center yesterday as history unfolded.The Artemis II mission successfully launched on April 1, sending the spacecraft into the Florida sky and beginning its orbit around Earth.
Orbit Earth for roughly 25 hoursOver the next ten days, Artemis and its four astronauts will head toward the Moon — though they won’t land. Instead, they’ll orbit the Moon, offering humanity perhaps the most breathtaking view yet of its mysterious far side.”We are going for all humanity,” said mission specialist Jeremy Hansen as they launched.Onboard the Orion capsule are NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, joined by Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. At its furthest point, Artemis II could take the crew about 230,000 miles from Earth — humanity’s farthest journey into space yet.

The crew will orbit Earth for roughly 25 hours before being flung toward the Moon.However, the mission isn’t without risks. A final crucial step remains before the spacecraft can leave Earth’s orbit.aking a four-hour naphe rocket blasted off Wednesday evening without a hitch (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images), though weather concerns had raised the possibility of delays. Shortly after liftoff, the crew reported a malfunctioning toilet — luckily, mission control was able to fix it quickly.This morning, the astronauts are taking a four-hour nap and will wake at 7:00 a.m. EDT (11:00 a.m. BST) to “prepare for the perigee raise burn,” which will lift the lowest point of Orion’s orbit before they continue their rest around 9:40 a.m. EDT.Currently in Earth orbit, flight control teams are thoroughly checking the spacecraft’s engines, navigation, and life support systems to ensure everything is ready for deep space.