We're going around the Moon: Historic Artemis II mission en route to the Moon, Trump congratulates NASA

NASA successfully launched the historic Artemis II mission to the Moon on April 1. The four-astronaut crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, giving everyone who worked on Artemis for years celebrated. The approximately 10-day mission will see the crew testing systems and doing a flyby of the Moon. The launch window started at 6:24 pm, with the actual launch happening at 6:35 pm. The Artemis crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. NASA previously said that the mission will bring us closer to living on the Moon and Mars. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are on board the Orion spacecraft Integrity. It is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign. The mission will test systems and hardware in preparation for a future moon landing, currently scheduled for 2028.

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NASA on Artemis II moon mission

NASA said on X, "Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars." The mission will take the four astronauts around the Moon, and into deep space for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. US President Donald Trump congratulated in his Wednesday evening address. "Let me begin by congratulating the team at NASA and our brave astronauts on the successful launch of Artemis 2, it was quite something," he said. "It will be travelling further than any manned rocket ahs ever flown and go past the moon, go around it and come back home from a distance that has never been done before...these are brave people," he added.

They will fly more than 7,000 kilometres beyond the far side of the Moon, soaking in views that no man has ever seen. This will happen during their return when the spacecraft, Orion, will use the Moon's gravity to slingshot itself towards Earth. After this, it will get caught in Earth's gravity for a safe return home after 10 days. Astronauts will also live-stream from the Moon, sharing crucial pictures and data as they test all systems to check life support systems and other technology. NASA will have another Artemis mission next year, after which Artemis 4 will land humans on the Moon in 2028.