NASA's "Artemis 2" Successfully Launched, Four Astronauts Embark on Lunar Journey
NASA’s “Artemis 2” mission successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday evening Eastern Time, carrying four astronauts towards the Moon, marking humanity’s return to a crewed lunar orbit after more than 50 years.
“Artemis 2” is part of NASA’s overall plan to return to the Moon, the “Artemis” program, which aims to land humans on the lunar surface as early as 2028. This mission is the first crewed flight of NASA’s “Space Launch System” (SLS) heavy rocket, which will send the “Orion” spacecraft carrying four astronauts into near-lunar orbit. The mission is expected to last about 10 days. The launch date was postponed in February this year due to a helium supply issue.
The four astronauts on this mission are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. They will jointly ride the “Orion” spacecraft to complete a critical verification mission of a lunar flyby and return to Earth.
NASA confirmed on social media platforms that “Artemis 2” ignited and launched at 6:35 PM Eastern Time (10:35 PM Coordinated Universal Time), sending the four astronauts on their lunar journey. NASA stated that this mission will lay the foundation for future lunar landings and pave the way for “the next giant leap” – sending astronauts to Mars.
Prior to the launch of “Artemis 2,” NASA adjusted the overall lunar landing schedule, changing the “Artemis 3” mission originally scheduled for 2027 from a lunar landing mission to a test flight. According to the latest plan, “Artemis 4,” scheduled for 2028, will be the next attempt to land on the Moon. NASA’s last successful lunar landing was “Apollo 17” in 1972, and “Artemis 1” – an uncrewed “Orion” lunar flyby test mission – was completed in 2022.
Currently, NASA is live-streaming the launch process of “Artemis 2” on streaming platforms, showcasing the latest progress of this critical lunar flyby mission to the public.