The Artemis II rocket blasted into the sky on Wednesday night as Nasa’s first crewed mission to the Moon in half a century got under way.
While the crew won’t land on the lunar surface, their journey around the far side of the Moon and back to Earth will be the furthest any astronaut has travelled in space.
The rocket lifted off at 18:35 local time (22:35 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, just 11 minutes into its two-hour launch window.
The powerful rocket left a trail of smoke in its wake after the successful lift-off as it reached a speed of more than 10,000mph (16,100km/h).
The Artemis II crew includes Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover (first Black astronaut to the Moon), Christina Koch (first woman to the Moon), and Jeremy Hansen (first Canadian to the Moon).
The main mission goal is to test critical systems including life support and navigation, and perform proximity operations with the ICPS.
The operation acts as a precursor to the Artemis III and IV, and is significant in that it would validate technology necessary ot return to the Moon and enable future Mars missions.
(Photo credit – Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
