U.S. launches Artemis II crewed Moon mission

NASA's Artemis II Moon mission lifted off Wednesday from the U.S. state of Florida, carrying four astronauts on the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years.

The Space Launch System rocket, with the Orion spacecraft on top, launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. Eastern Time.

It is NASA's first crewed mission under the Artemis program. The four-member crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The launch countdown was briefly paused at the T-10 minute mark before resuming several minutes later.

The Artemis II mission will demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on deep space missions. It aims to validate Orion's life-support systems and allow astronauts to practice operations critical to the success of Artemis III and subsequent lunar missions, according to NASA.

The crew will travel about 7,400 kilometers beyond the far side of the Moon before returning home. The mission will carry astronauts farther from Earth and nearer to the Moon than any human has been in over half a century.