The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched Artemis II, a ten-day spaceflight mission that sent four astronauts on a flyby around the moon. The historic voyage is the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years.
Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, the space shuttle successfully took off without a hitch after previous delays. The mission had first been scheduled to launch in February, and was then postponed to March and later April after engineers discovered an issue with the rocket’s helium flow that would have interfered with the engines, according to Firstpost.
The planned lunar flyby was completed on Monday, April 6, capturing views of the far side of the moon. The Orion capsule is expected to splash back down to Earth in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, April 10.
Artemis II is a test flight, with its main objective being to build on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022 and demonstrate key systems and capabilities needed for future crewed missions to deep space, including the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, according to NASA.
The mission also holds notable historical significance from its crew, composed of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch will be the first woman, Glover the first person of color, Wiseman the oldest person, and Hansen the first non-U.S. citizen to travel beyond low Earth orbit, or the region of space where satellites orbit closest to Earth’s surface.
“We are going for all humanity,” said Hansen during the crew’s message broadcasted by CNN prior to launching.
The historic lunar venture will also be the first time astronauts have been near the vicinity of the moon since NASA’s Apollo Program’s missions over 50 years ago. The mission is expected to break several cosmic records, including traveling farther from Earth than any human ever has, and having the fastest atmospheric reentry speed of about 25,000 miles per hour.
During unprecedented times in the new age of space exploration, Artemis II stands as a promising advancement in the field, symbolizing the start of a more modern, diverse, and innovative era.
