Science & Tech

by Elizabeth Black, Christina Grube, Stephen Kloosterman
Post Date:
April 1, 2026

“Beautiful moonrise!” Artemis II blasts off, extends solar wings

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Update, 7:20 p.m.:

NASA’s most powerful rocket launched at roughly 6:30 p.m., sending four astronauts on a ten-day mission flying around the moon.

“We have a beautiful moonrise! We’re headed right at it,” Artemis II Mission Commander Gregory Reid Wiseman said, confirming he could see the target minutes after blastoff.

The mission aims to repeat a journey not made by the United States since the Apollo missions in the 1970s. A crowd at Kennedy Space Center in Florida cheered as NASA’s Space Launch System, topped by the Orion spacecraft, lifted off. At 322 feet tall, the rocket system produces roughly 8.8 million pounds of thrust, 15% more powerful than the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo missions.

Twin solid boosters dropped off the SLS as it climbed. Less than 15 minutes after launch, its interim cryogenic propulsion stage separated off, and by about 7 p.m., Orion’s four solar arrays wings were fully deployed, beginning to gather energy to the spacecraft’s systems.

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Update, 5:25 p.m.:

WATCH LIVE: NASA readies for Artemis II blastoff to the moon

The four crew members manning NASA’s Artemis II mission boarded the Orion spacecraft around 2:30 p.m. local time, according to the space agency. The space agency reported that the four astronauts had suited up and were inside the spacecraft, and were making final preparations for the nearly 700,000-mile trip. If successful, the launch will mark the first U.S. trip around the moon in over 50 years.

NASA engineers were conducting various safety and performance checks on the hatch’s seal, cabin pressurization, and counterbalance mechanisms Wednesday afternoon. Officials specifically resolved an issue with the flight termination safety system that would have stopped takeoff.

President Donald Trump released a Wednesday afternoon statement bidding the astronauts a safe journey. The mission is using one of the most powerful rockets ever built that will launch astronauts farther than any human has gone into deep space, according to the statement. America is winning, and the whole world is watching, he added.

Original story:

NASA readies for Artemis II blastoff to the moon

Engineers on Wednesday morning activated a ground launch system and began loading propellant into the Space Launch System rocket ahead of its planned launch in the evening. The Orion spacecraft and its rocket were scheduled to launch around 6:24 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, kicking off NASA’s Artemis II mission. Live coverage leading up to the launch began early Wednesday on the space agency’s website.

During the 10-day mission, astronauts plan to fly around the moon—traveling beyond low Earth orbit for the first time since the Apollo missions ended in the 1970s. The crew will see the far side of the moon illuminated by the sun during their journey, according to NASA. The mission will be NASA’s first crewed flight test of the new rocket and Orion spacecraft. The space agency conducted an unmanned test in 2022. Artemis II, originally planned to launch in February, was postponed due to problems with hydrogen fuel leaks and a helium system.

Who will be aboard the spacecraft? The Artemis II crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Wiseman will serve as the mission’s commander, and Glover will be its pilot. While the crew members will not land on the moon, NASA said in March that their mission will lay the groundwork for a prospective moon landing by 2028, with plans for a human colony on the moon in the works.

Dig deeper: Read Harrison Watters’ report on NASA’s moon colony plans.

Elizabeth Black

Elizabeth is a breaking news reporter at WORLD. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute and Patrick Henry College. She resides in northern Virginia with her husband.