NASA Artemis Moonshot

NASA's Artemis II moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

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Artemis II astronauts rocket toward the moon after spending a day around Earth

Artemis II astronauts rocket toward the moon after spending a day around Earth

NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have fired their engines and are blazing toward the moon. The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and one Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule has bolted out of orbit around Earth and chased after the moon nearly 250,000 miles away. It is the first engine firing for a moon crew since Apollo 17 set out on that era’s final moonshot in 1972. NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.