Crowds in Huntsville and around the world watched and cheered as NASA’s Artemis II mission successfully lifted off Wednesday evening, marking the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.
The powerful Space Launch System rocket launched at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the Orion spacecraft and a four-member crew on a 10-day test flight around the Moon and back.
The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; and Christina Koch, mission specialist, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist.
In Huntsville, hundreds gathered at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center for a community watch party, filling Saturn V Hall as the rocket blasted into the sky.
The event featured live NASA coverage, commentary from Marshall Space Flight Center team members and hands-on activities for families.
The successful launch marks a major milestone in NASA’s Artemis campaign, which aims to return humans to the Moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars. Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since 1972 and will test critical systems needed for future deep-space exploration.
Early mission milestones were completed as planned, including solid rocket booster separation, core stage cutoff and separation, and deployment of Orion’s solar array wings, which will power the spacecraft throughout its journey.
The mission underscores Huntsville’s central role in America’s return to deep space. The Space Launch System rocket is managed at Marshall Space Flight Center, continuing the city’s legacy as the nation’s propulsion hub dating back to the Apollo era.
President Donald Trump also weighed in ahead of the launch, posting on social media: “We are WINNING, in Space, on Earth, and everywhere in between — Economically, Militarily, and now, BEYOND THE STARS.”
Artemis II follows the successful uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022 and serves as a critical step toward future missions, including landing astronauts on the Moon for the first time in decades.
For the Rocket City, the launch marks another milestone in a legacy that began with Apollo, and continued to be immortalized today with Artemis.
