In photos: Artemis II’s historic launch for the moon
On April 1, four astronauts took off on a ten-day round trip around the Moon. Their mission, the first to send humans to the Moon since 1972, will test key systems for two moon landings in 2028, which, in turn, will lay the groundwork for a permanent basis on the surface of the moon.
The crew of Artemis II, consisting of Commander Reid Wisemanpilot Victor Gloverand mission specialists Christine Koch And Jeremy Hansen – circle the Earth before launching a translunar injection burn to send them on a flight of approximately 245,000 miles (394,000 kilometers) to lunar orbit.
Sunrise on the moon
At 322 feet (98 meters) tall, the Artemis II rocket stack is taller than the Statue of Liberty and provides more than 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust to a capsule the size of an RV.
Take a seat
The launch of Artemis II was highly anticipated, with NASA initially targeting a moon landing by 2024 in 2019.
Yet given the many delays and setbacks suffered by Artemis II and its previous mission, such an early implementation was a leap of faith on the part of many onlookers.
On the tarmac
To avoid health problems in space, quarantining astronauts before a launch is standard protocol.
The Artemis II astronauts quarantined with their families and, just before heading out, played a game of cards – one of several pre-launch rituals intended to “exhaust” bad luck before heading to the launch pad.
Locked and Loaded
The astronauts experienced gravity up to four times that of Earth as they ascended to orbit, accelerating to speeds of up to 10,000 mph (16,000 km/h).
These speeds pale in comparison to those of re-entry, during which the Artemis II astronauts will plummet at just over 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h), becoming the the fastest humans in history.
Takeoff
To reach orbit, the SLS rocket burns more than 730,000 gallons (28,000 liters) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in its core stage alone.
The four core stage RS-25 engines consume propellant at a rate of 1,500 gallons (5,700 liters) per second during their eight minutes of operation. That’s more than enough to empty an Olympic-sized swimming pool in that time frame.
Live from Cape Canaveral
This image of the liftoff was taken by Roger Guillemette, Live Science’s Artemis II launch correspondent, for our live coverage of Artemis II.
Guillemette has witnessed nearly 100 piloted spaceflight launches, from the July 1975 Saturn IB launch of the Apollo-Soyuz test project to the final launch of Shuttle Atlantis on STS-135 in July 2011.
A cry in the sky
The SLS rocket produced a thunderous noise measuring 176 decibels during takeoff – loud enough to cause serious damage to the eardrum and to be heard up to 50 km away.
While the world watched
Early estimates were that as many as 400,000 people watched the rocket lift off along Florida’s Space Coast, with tens of millions watching simultaneously online.
Soar to the sky
It took about seven seconds for the SLS rocket to clear the launch tower after its two solid-fuel boosters ignited for liftoff. The rocket broke the sound barrier just under a minute into the flight.
Onward to the moon
Upon entering space, the Orion capsule separated from the rocket’s core stage.
The crew will now swing around Earth, performing a gravitational slingshot maneuver to gain speed.
This will be followed by a translunar injection burn that will set the crew on its final trajectory toward the Moon.
