NASA launched its first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years, a critical step towards returning American astronauts to the lunar surface and a big win for the agency’s new head, Jared Isaacman.
The mission, Artemis II, is the latest move in the new space race with China. And it’s a great start for Isaacman’s push to revive and expand the nation's manned spaceflight program — including a permanent base on the moon.
Crowds cheered as the rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday, ferrying four astronauts on top of the behemoth Space Launch System rocket — reaching a max speed of 17,500 miles per hour. The approximately 10-day journey will carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before, traveling around the far side of the moon and back.
The test flight will pave the way for future Artemis missions, with a planned lunar landing in 2028. NASA aims to go much farther than the historic Apollo missions — which first landed Americans on the moon in 1969 — and eventually build a $30 billion-dollar outpost on the moon.
After the rocket carries the astronauts out of earth’s atmosphere, Lockheed Martin’s Orion capsule will separate from the larger system and sling the crew around the far side of the moon. Once the journey is complete, Orion will hit Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 25,000 miles per hour before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
This marks the Boeing-built rocket's second test flight. The first Artemis mission launched in 2022, but has faced years of delays and cost overruns. Just one launch of the SLS rocket costs about $4 billion, and the entire Artemis campaign is expected to cost nearly $100 billion.
Since taking the helm at NASA, Isaacman has announced plans to revamp the Artemis program and get the rocket flying more frequently. NASA plans for another Artemis test flight next year, ideally setting up the agency for a lunar landing in 2028.
That goal was set into stone in a December executive order outlining President Donald Trump’s ambitions in space. Isaacman’s hefty to-do list comes after a tough year for NASA: thousands of employees fled the agency last year and the White House proposed steep cuts to NASA’s budget.
NASA is also racing to get back to the moon ahead of China, a burgeoning space power that is targeting a moon landing at the end of the decade. The U.S. needs to win that race, officials argue, to maintain America’s place in the world order.
Leading up to the historic mission, Trump remained largely silent on the Artemis II. On Wednesday, he posted a statement highlighting the mission and asserting U.S. dominance in space.
“We are WINNING, in Space, on Earth, and everywhere in between — Economically, Militarily, and now, BEYOND THE STARS. Nobody comes close! America doesn't just compete, we DOMINATE, and the whole World is watching,” Trump wrote.
A White House official said Trump is monitoring the launch from the White House.
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