The United States has initiated its initial crewed journey around the Moon in more than five decades, with President Donald Trump and key lawmakers praising Artemis II as a significant achievement in a revived global space competition.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen embarked on a 10-day expedition around the Moon and back aboard the Orion spacecraft launched by the Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. (Eastern Time).
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman hailed the launch as a pivotal moment, stating that Artemis II signifies the beginning of something larger than any individual mission. The mission serves as a trial run to showcase life-support systems and spacecraft performance with a crew on board for the first time in the Artemis program.
Orion successfully deployed its solar arrays post-launch and transitioned to flight operations, with engineers conducting system checks as the spacecraft entered an elliptical orbit around Earth. The crew is gearing up for a proximity operations test to validate navigation and control systems for future lunar missions.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz emphasized the strategic importance of Artemis II, positioning it as a statement to the world that the U.S. will lead in space exploration during this era of intensified competition. Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren lauded the mission as a remarkable achievement that will inspire people worldwide across all generations.
NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya highlighted the experimental nature of the mission, emphasizing the need to thoroughly test Orion to ensure the safety of future lunar missions. If all systems function as anticipated, Orion will conduct a translunar injection burn to propel the crew towards the Moon, utilizing lunar gravity for the return journey to Earth.
