• First crewed mission around the Moon in over 50 years
• Last-minute technical glitch nearly delayed launch

A historic space mission lifted off from Florida, with four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis 2, embarking on a 10-day journey around the Moon, marking one of the boldest spaceflights in recent decades.

The launch took place at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, within a two-hour launch window, amid worldwide attention and high anticipation for mission success.

The takeoff was almost disrupted at the last minute by a sudden issue in a critical flight termination system, used to ensure crew safety in emergencies, before the problem was quickly resolved and the launch proceeded.

This mission comes more than 50 years after humans last left Earth’s orbit, paving the way for a future return to the Moon under an ambitious exploration program.

The Artemis 2 crew will orbit the Moon and return to Earth without landing; lunar landing missions are planned for later phases of the program.

In addition to returning humans to deep space, this mission will take the astronauts farther than any humans have ever traveled, marking a pivotal milestone in space exploration.