SOCIAL MEDIA:
Liftoff.
— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2026
The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.
Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars. pic.twitter.com/ENQA4RTqAc
MERRITT ISLAND, FL ~ U.S. astronauts experienced a successful launch Wednesday evening as NASA’s Artemis II started its journey to the moon.
The launch happened at 6:35 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts for the mission. The crew will not be landing on the moon, though; instead, they will first orbit the Earth, then travel to the moon, where they will fly around it before returning to Earth in a figure-eight pattern. The journey is expected to take about ten days.
The last time humanity reached its lunar neighbor was the Apollo 17 landing in late 1972.
