Nasa’s first manned Moon mission in more than 50 years has blasted off, in a mission that will see four astronauts travel deeper into space than any human has gone before.
Carrying three Americans and one Canadian, the 32-story rocket rose from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center, where tens of thousands gathered.
Crowds also jammed the surrounding roads and beaches, reminiscent of the Apollo moonshots in the 1960s and ’70s. It is Nasa’s biggest step yet toward establishing a permanent lunar presence.
“On this historic mission, you take with you the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the launch director.
“Good luck, Godspeed Artemis II. Let’s go.”
The so-called lunar flyby around the Moon will send the crew some 252,000 miles (406,000km) into space before returning to Earth.
The current record for the furthest spaceflight is about 248,000 miles, held by members of the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, which was hit by technical problems.
As they pass approximately 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the Moon, the Orion module will lose communication with the Earth for up to 50 minutes.
While the astronauts will not touch down on the satellite, the Artemis II mission paves the way for a future lunar landing and also lays the foundation to send a crew to Mars.
The UK is playing a part in the mammoth technical operation, with the Goonhilly Earth Station, near Helston, Cornwall, helping to track the capsule on its epic celestial voyage.
Artemis II set sail from the same Florida launch site that sent Apollo’s explorers to the moon decades ago.
The 10-day mission will take NASA astronauts 230,000 miles out into space, the farthest any human has ever traveled from Earth. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)Tensions were high earlier in the day as hydrogen fuel started flowing into the rocket. Dangerous hydrogen leaks erupted during a countdown test earlier this year, forcing a lengthy flight delay.
Nasa also had to deal with some issues beforehand but was able to resolve them and allow the launch to proceed without delay, one of them related to commands not getting through to the rocket’s flight-termination system, which is needed to send a self-destruct signal in case the rocket veers off course and threatens populated areas.
The astronauts stand to become the most distant humans ever when their capsule zooms past the moon and continues another 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond, before making a U-turn and tearing straight home to a splashdown in the Pacific.
Once settled in a high orbit around Earth, the astronauts planned to assume manual control and practice steering their capsule around the rocket’s detached upper stage, venturing within 33 feet (10 meters).
The last time Nasa sent astronauts to the Moon was as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Nasa is seeking to return a crew to the lunar surface by 2028, before China does in about 2030.
Hailing the mission ahead of the launch, US President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “We are WINNING, in Space, on Earth, and everywhere in between — Economically, Militarily, and now, BEYOND THE STARS.
“Nobody comes close! America doesn’t just compete, we DOMINATE, and the whole World is watching.
“God bless our incredible Astronauts, God bless NASA, and God bless the Greatest Nation ever to exist, the United States of America! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Earlier, the King also conveyed his “heartfelt good wishes” to the astronauts along with an impassioned environmental plea.
The royal message was sent to crew member Colonel Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot from Canada, where Charles is head of state.
In it, the environmentalist monarch expressed his hope the trip would renew people’s conviction “that we must learn from the lessons of how we have over-exploited and polluted our own planet”.
Amid the fresh space race, Charles said it was vital “that the Moon remains a beacon of peaceful scientific discovery rather than a theatre of exploitation”.
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