Four astronauts are heading to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. The crew launched at 18:35 local time from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard the Orion capsule atop the Space Launch System. The mission builds on Artemis 1 and sets milestones for women and non-white astronauts.
The Artemis 2 mission lifted off after several delays due to technical issues. Aboard the Orion capsule are US astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen. Koch is the first woman on a NASA Moon mission, Glover the first non-white person, and Hansen the first Canadian.
The crew will spend about ten days in space, covering more than 2.3 million kilometers. The trajectory forms an eight around Earth and Moon, reaching a farthest point of about 370,000 kilometers from Earth, roughly 7,500 kilometers past the Moon's far side. Orion flies mostly automatically, but astronauts will test manual controls and monitor systems and health.
German astronaut Alexander Gerst called it a "historic day," while colleague Matthias Maurer described it as "a whole new chapter for spaceflight." US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: "We are winning in space, on Earth, and everywhere in between - economically, militarily, and now beyond the stars." ESA head Josef Aschbacher said: "We stand at the threshold of a historic return."
Launched by NASA in 2017, the Artemis program plans future landings. New NASA chief Jared Isaacman revised timelines: Artemis 3 will dock with Moon landers next year, with landings in 2028. ESA provides the service module from Bremen, and Gerst envisions a European Moon station.
In the global space race, the US competes with China aiming for landings by 2030 and Russia facing delays.
