Space

The mission now carries three NASA astronauts and one Canadian Space Agency astronaut on the first trip to the moon in decades.

Byweather.com •

April 2, 2026

Updated: April 2, 2026, 5:57 am EDTPublished: April 2, 2026, 5:57 am EDT

NASA Building Lunar Base For Humans

With a thunderous roar and a blaze of light, NASA successfully launched four astronauts toward the moon, marking the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years.

Riding aboard the Orion capsule named Integrity, the crew lifted off within the evening launch window, beginning a historic journey that signals a new era of human space exploration.

Along Florida’s Space Coast, thousands of spectators who had gathered near Kennedy Space Center erupted in cheers as the rocket climbed into clearing skies. An earlier afternoon rainstorm had briefly drenched the crowd, but sunshine returned in time for a picture-perfect launch, aided by favorable weather conditions.

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The launch was successfully cleared after resolving a battery issue and an earlier concern involving the rocket’s flight-termination system.

The Artemis II crewed lunar mission launches at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026. Four astronauts blasted off aboard a massive NASA rocket April 1 on a long-anticipated journey around the Moon, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. With an intense roar that reverberated far beyond the launchpad, the enormous orange-and-white rocket carried three Americans and one Canadian away from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at approximately 6:35 pm local time, according to an AFP journalist onsite. "We're going to the Moon!" yelled a spectator.
(Photo by Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images )

The Artemis II mission now carries NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day voyage to the moon. (The astronauts won't actually land on the moon this time. That's planned for the Artemis IV mission down the road.)

Now safely in orbit, the four astronauts will circle the Earth for approximately 25 hours before firing their engines to catapult toward the moon.

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Just five minutes into flight, Commander Reid Wiseman caught sight of their destination.

“We have a beautiful moonrise. We’re headed right at it,” he said from inside the capsule.

Like the Apollo missions before it, Artemis II will conclude with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Navy recovery ships will be positioned off the coast of San Diego, where Orion will descend under parachutes and be retrieved, bringing the crew safely home after their journey around the moon and back.

Did You See The Launch?

If you live in Florida or South Georgia, you may have caught a glimpse of the launch this evening as long as clouds didn't block your view!

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