NASA Launches Four Astronauts On First Crewed Lunar Mission In 54 Years

Washington: In a major milestone for space exploration, NASA on Wednesday successfully launched the Artemis-2 mission, which send four astronauts (three men and one woman) on a journey toward the Moon for the first time in about 54 years.

What did the NASA say?

NASA has described it as a historic mission, aiming to usher in a new era of space exploration. The four astronauts launched from their base in Florida, USA, as part of Artemis-2.

The NASA crew traveling to the Moon includes Four astronauts, Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

This team has embarked on a 10-day mission, orbiting Earth without landing on the Moon, much like Apollo 8 did in 1968.

When did this happen?

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, topped with its Orion crew capsule, roared to life just before sunset at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida into Earth orbit. 

The 32-story-tall space vehicle thundered into clear skies after lifting off at 4:04 am IST from the iconic launch pad at Kennedy Space Centre.

The Orion capsule separated from the rocket nearly eight minutes after liftoff.

What is the mission?

If the mission proceeds as planned, the crew which consists of NASA astronauts ‌Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will fly around the moon and back in their nearly 10-day journey before returning to Earth.

The crew will not land on the Moon and will remain thousands of miles away at their closest point but the mission looks  towards an important step for future lunar landings. It will test life support and other systems of the Orion spacecraft which is designed to carry humans into space, per NASA.

According to NASA, the mission will test life support and other systems of the Orion spacecraft which is designed to carry humans into space.

The last time astronauts walked on the moon – a feat so far achieved only by the United States – was the final Apollo mission in 1972.