NASA Launches Lunar-Orbit Rocket to Carry Out 'Artemis II' Mission

NASA launched its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center on April 1 (U.S. Eastern Time) — about 18:35 ET (04:35 Beijing time April 2) — sending the Orion crew capsule on the Artemis II mission, a roughly 10‑day high‑speed lunar flyby. This is the first crewed mission to travel to lunar distance since the Apollo program ended in 1972. It is a test flight: Orion will loop around the Moon and return to Earth, but it will not attempt a lunar landing.

Mission and crew

The Orion spacecraft carries four astronauts: Reid Wiseman (里德·怀斯曼), Victor Glover (维克多·格洛弗), Christina Koch (克里斯蒂娜·科赫) and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen (杰里米·汉森). The flight will validate deep‑space crew operations, life‑support systems and high‑speed re‑entry performance needed for sustained human missions beyond low Earth orbit. NASA says the data from Artemis II will help pave the way for returning astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade; it has been reported that a later Artemis mission (sometimes cited as Artemis IV) could attempt a crewed landing.

Why it matters

Why does this matter now? The Artemis program is the U.S. effort to re‑establish a crewed presence at the Moon and prepare for long‑duration exploration, with international and commercial partners playing visible roles — Canada’s contribution is underscored by Hansen’s seat on Orion. Geopolitically, the mission occurs amid sustained technological rivalry: China’s lunar program has made rapid robotic gains in recent years, while U.S. policy continues to limit direct NASA‑CNSA cooperation under existing law. Artemis II is therefore both a technical milestone and a high‑profile symbol of how space exploration is unfolding in a more contested, multipolar era.