At 18:36 Cape Canaveral time, NASA’s SLS rocket lifted off without incident with four members of the Artemis II spacecraft on board. Within the first few hours, Orion will complete its journey to Earth orbit and will conduct critical navigation and systems tests throughout the first day. Around the third or fourth day, the spacecraft will begin its trajectory toward the Moon and cross its gravitational sphere of influence. In total, the mission will last approximately 10 days.
The mission involves the first woman and first black man on a manned mission to lunar orbit. The launch comes 53 years after Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the Moon.
The Artemis II crew will not land on the Moon (that will happen on Artemis IV). Instead, their capsule will fly at an altitude of 6,000 to 9,000 kilometers above the surface of the dim side of the Moon, orbit it and begin the journey back to Earth. The primary goal of the mission is to demonstrate that the space agency has the technological capabilities to send humans to the Moon safely and accident-free.
Once this goal is achieved, NASA will begin preparations for the Up-to-date Moon landings in the following years, the goal of which will be to create the first lunar bases in history, and with them a constant and sustainable human presence on the satellite.
The launch was successful and took place according to schedule. The launch window opened on Wednesday, April 1 at 6:24 p.m. EDT and could be extended by two hours if necessary. NASA would have five more days to attempt another launch.
Mission details
The astronauts launched on a NASA SLS rocket and travel inside the Orion capsule, described as a spacecraft the size of a gigantic van. They will orbit Earth for at least two days to test onboard instruments. They will then position the spacecraft to begin its journey to the Moon. On the fifth or sixth day of the flight, the capsule is expected to enter the Moon’s zone of influence, where the satellite’s gravity is stronger than Earth’s, and dock in its orbit.
When the spacecraft passes “beyond” the Moon, the most perilous phase will begin. The crew will be out of contact with Earth for about 50 minutes due to interference from the Moon itself. At this crucial moment, the crew must capture images and data from the Moon, using the much more advanced technology they have than was available in the Apollo era.
Once the reentry is complete, the capsule will return home using the Earth-Moon gravitational field to save fuel. According to NASA estimates, the crew will be close to reaching the planet on the 10th day of the flight.