NASA has successfully launched a rocket carrying four astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century. The high-stakes Artemis ll mission blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday after a suspenseful countdown.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will embark on a 10 day trip looping around the Moon, the closest anyone has got since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
While they won’t land on the lunar surface, the crew are expected to break the record for the farthest anyone has traveled from Earth at more than 250,000 miles.
The launch comes after several major delays caused by Covid lockdowns and technical snags, having originally been projected for around 2019 to 2021.
In the hours leading up to the launch on Wednesday, a string of technical issues on board the aircraft were reported – but engineers quickly confirmed that they would not affect the take-off.
Stunning footage showed Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with its Orion crew capsule, blasting off into space with its massive engines heard roaring and spewing fireballs towards the ground.
Crowds of spectators cheered in excitement as it launched away from planet Earth without a hiccup.
The flight controller could be heard saying as the historic flight set off: “Humanity’s next great voyage.”
