NASA Conducts Successful Launch of Artemis II Crewed Mission to Moon

NASA successfully launched the Artemis II rocket yesterday, marking the United States' first crewed moon mission since 1972.

The rocket is carrying four astronauts – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – to the Moon and back, with the spacecraft conducting a brief flyby before heading back to Earth. However, they will not be relaxing; the astronauts will be conducting all sorts of tests for hours each day, ranging from complex technological tests to testing the space toilet.

The entire mission, which will take place over the next ten days, is designed for the purpose of testing the systems of the Orion spacecraft. Mounted on top of a 322-foot Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the Orion spacecraft is the culmination of years of NASA research and advanced technological design.

Orion uses solar panels for its energy and is designed to support life in deep space, with all sorts of onboard features for crewmembers. It can carry four crewmembers for a maximum of 21 days, and it has some of the best life support systems ever designed by NASA. The spacecraft is also designed to be reusable, allowing NASA to reduce the turnaround time between Moon launches.

Finally, Orion also possesses the ability to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at incredible speeds, with an updated heat shield. Scientists estimate that the spacecraft can safely enter the atmosphere at a speed of 25,000 mph– more than 33 times the speed of sound.

The agency claims that Orion and its role in the Artemis missions are the first step to building a sustainable presence on the Moon and eventually moving onto Mars.

Because of this, yesterday's launch was a major success for the American space program. After years of anticipation, NASA finally launched Artemis II, the mission carrying four astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth. The rocket successfully lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at Florida's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, launching at around 6:35 pm EDT.

The mission is scheduled to reach the Moon on April 6, conducting a flyby from around 4,000 miles away, before returning to Earth on April 10. There, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, where it will be collected by NASA and reused for future missions.

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Image credit to NASA