History was made this week when Artemis II lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket came to life at 18:35 local time on April 1 with four aboard the Orion space capsule: three astronauts from NASA from the US and one astronaut from CSA from Canada.
This is the crew of the Artemis II test flight.
Entering the Orion capsule is not like entering a pilot’s cockpit and it is not even like entering the ISS. It is an exhausting and precise process. Artemis needed a dedicated person. Liquidation team of five people acting as a specialized pit crew just to locate the astronauts.
For four straight hours before launch, this team struggled with complex five-point flight harnesses, connected meticulous life support connections, and wrangled an incredible pneumatic hatch that requires heavy ground support equipment just to force it open. Even a single stray hair caught in the hatch seals could have cleaned the entire boat.
And then the spaceship took off! From NASA launch day updates:
NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, with the Orion spacecraft atop carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, lifted off from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B in Florida at 6:35 pm EDT to begin its journey into deep space.
The twin solid rocket boosters ignited first, delivering more than 75% of the thrust needed to lift the 5.75 million-pound rocket off the pad. Their combined power, along with the four RS-25 engines already at full capacity, generated an incredible 8.8 million pounds of force at takeoff. As the rocket rose, the umbilicals, which provided power, fuel and data connections during prelaunch, were disconnected and retracted into protective casings. This ensured that the vehicle was free of ground systems and was completely autonomous for flight.
If you missed the actual launch, you can still watch it here:
CNN described the crew seems surprised that the mission was actually launched, quoting Artemis II pilot Victor Glover:
“We like to say we’re ready without expectations, but deep down, you’re hoping to launch it. And then when we got really close, it was like, ‘Wait, we’re getting ready to go to space?’ “It was a journey where you try to be professional, but the kid inside you wants to go out and just scream and scream.”
Once the Space Launch System rocket’s main engines shut down, Orion and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) separated from the rest of the rocket. The ICPS engine was then fired to raise the perigee, or lowest point of a spacecraft’s orbit, to a safe altitude of 100 miles above Earth.
The crew lost two-way communications with Earth after reaching orbit,”due to a ground configuration issue involving the satellite tracking and data relay system.”
Niki Grayson was watching the capsule youtube live stream when he heard a troubleshooting problem. One of the astronauts was heard saying, “I have two Microsoft Outlooks and neither of them work.”
Right now the astronauts are calling Houston because the spacecraft’s computer is running two instances of Microsoft Outlook and they can’t figure out why. NASA is about to remotely access the computer.
—Niki Grayson (@nikigrayson.com) April 2, 2026 at 09:06
About an hour after perigee was raised, apogee boost was activated, lifting the spacecraft into high Earth orbit.
The crew then had less than 24 hours to perform a thorough check of Orion’s systems before committing to fly to the Moon.
Apogee Raise Burn Complete, Crew Looks Ahead for Proximity Operations:
The Artemis II crew will now begin preparations for the proximity operations demonstration. This demonstration will test the Orion spacecraft’s ability to manually maneuver relative to another spacecraft, the ICPS, after separation, using its onboard navigation sensors and reaction control thrusters. Prior to the demonstration, Orion will have planned the handover of communications from NASA’s Near Space Network to the Deep Space Network. These two networks work together to support Orion from the launch pad, around the Moon, and back to Earth.
Day 1 in the capsule also had a very unglamorous turn: After launch, a flashing fault light forced the crew to troubleshoot Orion’s high-tech toilet. ABC News reports that mission specialist Christina Koch addressed the problem:
“I’m proud to call myself the space plumber,” Koch said. “I like to say it’s probably the most important piece of equipment on board.”
NASA launched a fun infographic with more details about the food on board the Orion.
On a typical mission day, excluding launch and reentry, astronauts have scheduled times for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each astronaut is assigned two flavored drinks per day, which may include coffee. Beverage options are limited due to mass restrictions, which restrict the amount of food and drink that can be brought on board.
Fresh food will not fly on Artemis II as Orion does not have refrigeration or the late loading capability required for fresh food. Non-perishable foods help manage food safety and quality throughout their intended shelf life in a compact, self-contained spacecraft, while reducing the risk of crumbs or particles in microgravity.
The translunar injection (TLI) burn on day 2 was the time toward which the previous burns had been accumulating. At 7:49 p.m. EDT on Thursday, after the mission management team probed “Go,” Orion’s main engine ignited for five minutes and fifty seconds. At that time, the crew was no longer orbiting Earth. The engine delivers up to 6,000 pounds of thrust (enough to accelerate a car from zero to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds), burning about 1,000 pounds of fuel to push the 58,000-pound spacecraft out of Earth orbit completely.
NASA’s Artemis II mission leaves Earth’s orbit to fly around the Moon:
After reaching space, Orion deployed its four solar panel wings, allowing the spacecraft to receive power from the Sun, while the crew and engineers on the ground immediately began transitioning the spacecraft from launch to flight operations to begin verifying key aspects.
systems.
After the successful translunar injection, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman took two photographs of planet Earth, the first images transmitted by astronauts.
I was also interested in reading about the first crew training in deep space. The capsule includes a flywheel exercise device: a cable-based system the size of a carry-on suitcase that supports everything from rows to squats to deadlifts, with loads up to 400 pounds.
NASA has published the all the details of the 10-day agenda. Today is day 3 and the crew is expected to make their first departure trajectory correction. They will also test the Orion medical kit and practice CPR procedures in microgravity. Tomorrow will be the first lunar flyby, which will hopefully include lots of great photos!
On the 5th they will enter the lunar sphere of influence and on the 6th they will (we hope!) break Apollo 13’s record for the longest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth (over 248,655 miles). They will rotate toward the far side of the Moon, during which time they will lose communication with Earth.
We will get them back on the 7th, when it is time to return home. But not everything is easy to travel. On the 8th, they will test the spacecraft’s ability to act as a radiation shelter in the event of a sudden solar flare. Day 9 includes checking all debris collection systems and testing compression suits ready for return to Earth’s gravity. The end of the mission is on the 10th, when they will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at 3000°F/1649°C. They will have to slow down from 300 to 17 mph (483 to 27 km/h) before plunging into the Pacific Ocean.
I’ll spend the next week watching live coverage of the mission with live commentary from NASA on YouTube:
There are 50,000 people watching right now. Come join us!
