NASA launches Artemis II crew on first crewed moon mission in 50 years

The Artemis II crew entered the history books on Wednesday, heading off on a mission around the moon aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft; this was the first crewed journey beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years.

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, the U.S.’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen boarded the 322-foot Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B on Wednesday afternoon, just hours before launch. [insert time rocket lifted off].

The Artemis II crew is expected to orbit the Moon and back, the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.

Although the mission will not land on the lunar surface, it is designed to carry a four-man crew farther from Earth than any crewed mission since the Apollo era.

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NASA describes the Orion spacecraft as the most powerful launch system rocket it has ever produced.

The 322-foot-tall rocket will send the spacecraft and its crew into deep space for the first time and test critical systems before proposed future Moon landing missions.

Now that the crew is in space, its members are expected to spend several days in space, including a multi-day cruise on the far side of the moon, before returning to Earth for a planned landing in the Pacific Ocean.

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Astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover attend a welcome ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 27, 2026, ahead of the launch of the Artemis II mission scheduled for April 1, 2026. (Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/AFP)

NASA was planning to launch Artemis II in February, but technical problems that emerged during testing caused the agency to withdraw it. Such problems included fuel and helium leaks on the Space Launch System rocket, requiring additional repairs.

Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I test flight and is considered a major step towards future missions, including Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the moon.

NASA has previously said that the Artemis program aims to support long-term lunar exploration and lay the groundwork for human missions to Mars.

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Trump greets NASA’s Artemis II as astronauts prepare for the first deep space mission to orbit the moon, beyond Earth orbit, since 1972. (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump established the Artemis program during his first term in 2017 as part of a broader initiative to send American astronauts back to the moon.

Hours before the rocket launch, Trump celebrated the Artemis II mission.

“America is going back to the Moon!” he said. “America doesn’t just compete, we DOMINATE and the whole Earth watches. God bless our incredible Astronauts, God bless NASA, and God bless the United States of America, the Greatest Nation that has ever existed!”

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House Speaker Mike Johnson also praised the crew and NASA on Wednesday.

“We pray for the safety and success of the Artemis II crew and @NASA as they undertake a mission that will take humanity further into space than we have gone in more than half a century,” he said. “I had the privilege of hosting these brave pioneers at the State of the Union earlier this year. Americans watch with pride as our Golden Age reaches new heights!”