Artemis II Crewed Lunar Flight Lifts Off With Four Astronauts Aboard
On April 1, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, Florida, a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted the Orion spacecraft off Launch Complex 39B at 6:35 p.m. EDT, sending the Artemis II crewed lunar mission on its way. It is the first time in more than 50 years that humans have traveled toward the vicinity of the Moon.
The four-member crew consists of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Under the flight plan, the four will fly Orion around the Moon and back to Earth on a journey of about 10 days, without landing on the lunar surface.
Artemis II is the first crewed flight of the Artemis program. Its main purpose is to verify Orion's crewed deep-space flight capability and prepare for later crewed lunar landing missions. On launch night, all rocket stages performed as planned and the spacecraft entered its intended orbit.
Source: NASA
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：2026年4月1日，太空发射系统火箭托举「猎户座」飞船在佛罗里达州肯尼迪航天中心升空，阿尔忒弥斯二号任务启程（发射现场照片）。NASA／Steven B. Seipel 摄，公共领域。 / Photo: On April 1, 2026, the Space Launch System rocket carrying Orion lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the Artemis II mission (launch photo). Photo by NASA/Steven B. Seipel, public domain.
