Artemis II launches its historic moon mission: See the launch and mission details

For the first time, a woman and a Black astronaut are headed into deep space, breaking through the glass ceiling of low-Earth orbit as they attempt to circle the moon.

At 6:35 p.m. ET on April 1, NASA's 32-story Space Launch System lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. With the horsepower of 160,000 Corvettes, the rocket sent up a column of fire and vapor over the Atlantic Coast. This was no April Fool's Day gag, but a signal that the United States has returned to human-led space exploration. 

More than a half-century after NASA last ventured farther than the International Space Station, Artemis II — including mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover — is on its way toward the moon. The crew is also composed of Commander Reid Wiseman and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, who makes history in his own right as the first non-American on a lunar spaceflight. Hansen flies for the Canadian Space Agency.

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Topping the mega moon rocket was the Orion spacecraft, a new capsule designed for the agency's Artemis moon program, which aims to establish a continuous human presence on the moon. There, astronauts will learn how to survive the formidable lunar conditions before pushing on toward Mars, perhaps in the 2030s. 

But the Artemis II crew won't be landing on the surface — that's for a later mission. If all goes according to plan, the four astronauts will test the spacecraft's life-support systems over a 10-day voyage that loops around Earth before slingshotting around the moon. They'll attempt to travel about 248,700 miles from Earth, surpassing Apollo 13's record of 248,655 miles, set in 1970. 

"The thing to celebrate is that we as a world actually are living in an era where we know that we have to go for all and by all," Koch said on Friday about becoming the first woman on a moon mission. "We collectively made the decision to be here."

Koch and Glover, who were assigned to the crew in 2023, have each downplayed the historic achievement, shifting focus away from their "first" superlatives. The milestones come at a time when NASA, under President Donald Trump's executive order, has ended diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives. When NASA announced its latest astronaut trainees in October 2025, it was the first class in 40 years without any Black candidates, though it included a record number of women. 

For the past year, NASA has stopped talking about putting the first woman and person of color on the moon. It's unclear whether the agency will abandon that commitment, as the space agency has declined to directly discuss it with Mashable. The first moon-landing mission, Artemis IV, is slated for 2028, and NASA has not announced any crews beyond Artemis II.

Challenges before the launch

Today's $4.1 billion launch leaves Earth two months after NASA had initially rolled the rocket out to the launchpad, only to haul it back and forth to the hangar for unexpected tests and repairs. 

Engineers have worked through a handful of problems with the rocket, including hydrogen leaks during a fueling test and helium flow issues during a routine step to restore pressure in the upper stage. Those concerns, combined with the complexity of integrating the rocket, spacecraft, and mobile launcher, have delayed the mission and reshuffled timelines, underscoring the challenges of operating a rocket that has only flown once before. The vehicle made its inaugural voyage, the uncrewed Artemis I mission, in 2022. 

Prior to takeoff, a battery on the launch abort system on Orion posed a potential issue for the rocket, but NASA officials addressed and cleared it.

In the first eight minutes of flight, the crew hurtled an estimated 18,000 mph through the air, enduring intense G-forces — about three times Earth's gravity — to escape the atmosphere. Koch and Glover will set new spaceflight records for women and people of color when Orion surpasses the altitude of the space station, about 250 miles above Earth. 

History-making moments

That milestone is expected to happen within the first two hours of Flight Day 1. A crucial engine burn should propel the spacecraft into a high-Earth orbit with a peak altitude of about 46,000 miles.

Whether the crew will set the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled remains to be seen. The moment of truth would occur on Flight Day 6, when Orion passes behind the moon from Earth's perspective. 

During those 45 minutes, when the moon literally blocks communication between Earth and the spacecraft, the crew will study and photograph the far side, observing features never seen directly by humans before. Because of the timing of the launch, the flight path, and lighting conditions, the Artemis II astronauts may be the first to lay eyes on Mare Orientale, for example, a lunar landmark nearly 600 miles wide that almost completely escapes Earth's view.

"I would love it if the entire world … could come together and just be hoping and praying for us to get that acquisition of signal," Glover said. "It would be a reminder, a data point that we all share, that we can do challenging and very big and very important things when we work together."

When Orion returns, the capsule will re-enter Earth's atmosphere at high speed, heating to about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the heat shield for Artemis I was damaged during descent, the hardware has raised concerns about crew safety. NASA said the redesigned landing trajectory for Artemis II will prevent Orion from reaching the temperatures of the inaugural flight, which experienced roughly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Orion is expected to splash down on April 10 off the coast of San Diego, California, where U.S. Navy teams will recover the crew and ship.