Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Witness liftoff of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, captured in infrared.
On April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EDT, the SLS lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying the crew of Artemis II: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Artemis II is the first crewed flight test of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, testing the technologies we'll need for long-term lunar exploration and human missions to Mars. After lifting off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Artemis II astronauts are currently journeying around the Moon and back in their Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, on an approximately 10-day mission.
Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Credit: NASA
Witness liftoff of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, captured in infrared.
On April 1, 2026, at 6:35 p.m. EDT, the SLS lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying the crew of Artemis II: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
Artemis II is the first crewed flight test of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, testing the technologies we'll need for long-term lunar exploration and human missions to Mars. After lifting off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the Artemis II astronauts are currently journeying around the Moon and back in their Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, on an approximately 10-day mission.
Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Credit: NASA
