NASA's Artemis 2 Mission Launches: First Crewed Lunar Flight in Over 50 Years

NASA's Artemis 2 mission lifted off on schedule at 18:35 local time (22:35 GMT) on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending four astronauts toward the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The Space Launch System rocket carried Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch — all Americans — and Canadian Space Agency Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen on a ten-day lunar flyby. The Orion capsule detached from the rocket's first stage eight minutes after liftoff and entered Earth orbit as planned. The crew will circle the Earth several times at approximately 27,000 km/h, progressively increasing altitude to verify systems, before firing engines toward the Moon on Thursday around 23:30 GMT. The mission is a ten-day round trip, with the crew set to fly around the Moon on Monday, April 6, without landing, and return to Earth off the coast of California on April 10.

„We see a beautiful moonrise.” — Reid Wiseman via RTBF

„We are going for all of humanity.” — Jeremy Hansen via Le Temps

The Artemis 2 mission is the first crewed flight toward the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, marking a gap of more than 50 years in human lunar exploration. The Apollo program ran from 1968 to 1972, with all crews composed exclusively of white American men. The Artemis 2 crew is the first lunar mission crew to include a woman, a Black man, and a non-American astronaut. The mission follows the same trajectory concept as Apollo 8 in 1968, which circled the Moon without landing. The broader Artemis program has cost tens of billions of dollars and suffered years of delays before reaching this milestone.

Minor technical glitches shadowed an otherwise smooth first hours The early hours of the flight presented NASA's control center in Houston with a pair of technical issues that did not derail the mission. Communication with the astronauts was briefly lost, and the toilets aboard the Orion capsule were not yet functioning. NASA official Amit Kshatriya addressed both issues with composure, noting that the flight had only just begun. A more demanding test went smoothly: Victor Glover took the controls of Orion to perform an orbital maneuver simulating a docking with another craft, and the procedure was completed without incident.

„It was good flying with you, Houston. Beautiful vehicle.” — Victor Glover via BFMTV

The day leading up to liftoff was lengthy and demanding. Filling the rocket's immense tanks with millions of liters of liquid oxygen and hydrogen alone took four hours, and the astronauts strapped themselves into Orion several hours before ignition. Crowds gathered along the Florida coast and media representatives from 18 countries filled the Kennedy Space Center to witness the launch. Former astronaut Sian Proctor, present at the site, described the moment with visible emotion.

„I am so happy that we are going back to the Moon, everyone should be happy and follow the next ten days, it is a great step for humanity.” — Sian Proctor via SudOuest.fr

NASA chief calls it a 54-year interruption finally ending NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, appointed by President Donald Trump, held a press conference after the launch and framed the mission in historic terms.

„After a brief interruption of 54 years, NASA is resuming its mission to send astronauts to the Moon.” — Jared Isaacman via RTBF

The Artemis 2 mission is explicitly a test flight, designed to confirm that the 98-meter SLS rocket can reliably deliver a crew to the lunar surface in future missions. The crew is expected to break the record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by a crewed spacecraft when they reach the Moon on Monday. A lunar landing mission is targeted for 2028, contingent on the readiness of lunar landers currently under development at SpaceX and Blue Origin. The mission also carries symbolic weight: the Artemis program was conceived to represent international collaboration and diversity, in contrast to the all-white, all-American Apollo crews. Casey Dreier of The Planetary Society told AFP that NASA urgently needs the mission to succeed, citing low morale within the agency stemming from budget pressures and the departure of researchers, particularly those working on climate science.

98 (meters) — height of the non-reusable SLS rocket

Trump hails the launch while addressing the ongoing Iran war President Donald Trump opened his prime-time address on the war in Iran on Wednesday evening by congratulating the "brave astronauts" on their successful launch. On his social network Truth Social, Trump posted a separate statement celebrating the mission.

„America is going back to the Moon! Nobody comes close to us! America doesn't just compete, she DOMINATES, and the whole world has its eyes fixed on us.” — Donald Trump via Le Temps

Trump did not attend the launch in person, remaining engaged with the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran. The mission carries additional geopolitical weight: China has stated its ambition to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, and the Artemis program is widely seen as a response to that challenge. Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, dressed in green as is tradition, addressed the crew before liftoff with a message that captured the broader stakes of the mission.

„For this historic mission, you carry with you the heart of the Artemis team, the bold spirit of the American people and our partners across the world, as well as the hopes and dreams of a new generation. Good luck. Godspeed, Artemis II.” — Charlie Blackwell-Thompson via rts.ch

Separately, the U.S. government on Wednesday lifted sanctions that had targeted Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela, since 2018. According to Venezuelan media outlet Efecto Cocuyo as reported by Courrier International, the move came nearly three months after the U.S. military operation on January 3, 2026, during which American forces captured former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, allowing Rodríguez to assume leadership of the country. Rodríguez welcomed the decision, describing it as a step toward normalization of relations between Caracas and Washington, while also calling for the lifting of broader sanctions still affecting Venezuela.

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