NASA's Artemis II Mission Launches Successfully, Marking First Crewed Lunar Voyage in Over 50 Years

NASA's Artemis II mission successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time. This marks the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972. The 10-day mission carries four astronauts: NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen. The crew will perform a lunar flyby, traveling approximately 4,000 miles beyond the Moon before returning to Earth. This mission aims to test the Orion capsule's life-support systems and manual controls, laying the groundwork for future lunar landings planned under NASA's Artemis program. President Donald Trump congratulated the crew and NASA, highlighting the mission as a significant achievement for the United States in space exploration. The Artemis program seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon, with Artemis II serving as a critical step toward that goal.