NASA launches humans to moon for first time in half-century

For the first time in more than 50 years, astronauts are traveling to the Moon.

NASA’s colossal Space Launch System rocket lifted off at 3:35 p.m. Pacific Time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the start of the 10-day Artemis II mission.

In the hours and minutes before launch, as astronauts waited on board, NASA engineers fixed minor problems with the 30-story rocket. First, teams identified a problem with hardware that communicates with a system designed to detonate the rocket to protect public safety if the rocket veers off course. Then there was a random temperature reading on the launch abort system, designed to bring the crew to safety during such an event. Eventually, they resolved a brief telemetry issue with the capsule.

All were eventually resolved and the agency continued.

“On this historic mission, you carry with you the heart of this Artemis team, the bold spirit of the American people and our partners around the world, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation,” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis II launch director, told the crew minutes before launch. “Good luck. Good luck, Artemis II. Let’s go.”

In a few days, the four astronauts on board will fly by the Moon: they will not land on the surface and will not enter lunar orbit. Instead, the flyby is intended as a critical mission to test the rocket, human life support systems and flight procedures before a Moon landing, which NASA hopes to achieve in 2028.

This includes studies of astronauts’ sleep and mental health, as well as how deep space radiation and microgravity affect organs and the immune system. The crew will also practice manually piloting the spacecraft while remaining close to Earth.

NASA expects the crew to reach the Moon Monday morning, around 10 a.m. Pacific Time. As astronauts pass over the far side of the Moon, NASA expects to temporarily lose communication with the crew, who will focus on documenting and analyzing the rugged lunar surface. At this point, NASA predicts that the crew will break the Apollo 13 crew record for the farthest distance a human has traveled from Earth.

The crew will then begin their four-day return. The crewed capsule is expected to impact Earth’s atmosphere at around 30 times the speed of sound – which could make it the fastest reentry of a crewed capsule in history – on April 10. NASA expects the crew to crash land off the coast of San Diego around 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

The mission, made possible by scientists, engineers and support teams across the country and the world, also has a Southern California flair.

Victor Glover, the astronaut piloting the mission, was once a kid in Pomona Valley, watching the space shuttle launch on television and dreaming of driving the thing. He cut his teeth as a test pilot in the Mojave, attending test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base and serving with a Navy test pilot squadron at China Lake, California.

If the mission is successful, Glover will become the first black person to travel to the Moon. Joining him will be the first woman to do so, NASA astronaut Christina Koch, and the first non-American to do so, Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Not to be outdone by his teammates, mission commander Reid Wiseman, aged 50, will be the oldest to do so.

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, located inside Edwards Air Force Base, also conducts mission-critical research and testing. They supported two tests of the rocket’s launch abort system — designed to accelerate from 0 to 500 mph in just two seconds to literally outrun debris from an exploding rocket — in the 2010s. (The rocket aborted the abort system after the crew safely escaped the majority of Earth’s atmosphere.)

During re-entry, the center will participate in a high-speed relay of military and civilian aircraft to chase the capsule and measure the performance of the heat shield using high-tech telescopes and sensors. Artemis II is testing a new re-entry trajectory after an uncrewed test mission in 2022 resulted in unexpected damage to the heat shield.

Finally, once the capsule has landed safely off the coast of San Diego, NASA and US Navy divers will secure the capsule, with medical personnel from both teams on standby. A Navy ship will then return the capsule to Naval Base San Diego, just outside the city’s downtown.

The Artemis program ultimately aims to return humans to the Moon, help the space agency establish a lunar base and serve as a testing ground for future missions to Mars.

NASA plans to launch Artemis III, a mission to Earth orbit to test docking NASA spacecraft with SpaceX and Blue Origin lunar landers, in 2027. It aspires to launch Artemis IV, which would place humans on the surface of the Moon, in 2028.

“Artemis II is the opening act,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said shortly before the launch. “We are now entering a golden age of science and discovery.”