Watch: Nasa launches Artemis II, 1st crewed lunar mission in half a century

Four astronauts successfully launched off aboard Nasa’s Artemis II mission on Thursday from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, marking humanity’s first journey to the Moon’s vicinity since Apollo 17 in 1972 and a crucial step towards returning humans to the lunar surface.Nasa shared the moments of lift-off of the mission as the Space Launch System rose steadily into the dark sky. A thick plume of smoke and fire trailed the rocket as it grew smaller on the horizon.

Crew and flight path

Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialist Christina Koch of Nasa, along with Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, will undertake a 10-day mission that takes them several thousand miles beyond the Moon before returning to Earth.

The spacecraft will follow a free-return trajectory, using the Moon’s gravity to loop back without additional engine burns.

Historic firsts on board

The Artemis II crew includes Nasa astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They are on a nearly 10-day mission around the Moon and back, travelling farther into space than humans have gone before.Victor Glover will become the first person of colour to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Christina Koch the first woman, and Jeremy Hansen the first non-American to journey to the Moon’s vicinity.

After almost three years of training, they are the first team to fly in Nasa’s Artemis program. This program, started in 2017, aims to build a long-term human presence on the Moon over the next decade.

Why Artemis II matters

Artemis II becomes the first crewed flight of Nasa’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, designed to carry humans deeper into space than any system since the Apollo era. The mission will test life-support, navigation and deep-space communication systems critical for future lunar landings.The farthest point of the journey will take the crew about 4,700 miles beyond the Moon, farther than any human has travelled since the last Apollo mission. Reentry is expected to be the most challenging phase, with Orion returning to Earth’s atmosphere at around 25,000 miles per hour under a revised trajectory designed to ensure the capsule’s heat shield performs safely.

Background: the Artemis programme

The launch is an important step for Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which has taken more than ten years to develop.About three and a half hours after launch, the Orion capsule, built by Lockheed Martin, will separate from the rocket while in Earth’s orbit. The crew will then take manual control to test how well the spacecraft can move and steer, completing the first of many planned tests.Artemis II is an early and important mission in Nasa’s Moon program. The goal is to land astronauts on the Moon again by 2028 with the Artemis IV mission.Nasa is under pressure to achieve this, as China is also expanding its Moon program and plans to send astronauts there as early as 2030.