‘It Is Time To Fly’: NASA’s First Manned Moon Mission In 50 Years Hurtles Towards Destiny

With four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters generating 8.8 million pounds of thrust, the four Artemis II mission astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft fixed their gaze towards the heavens Wednesday evening, intent on completing their long-awaited fly-by rendezvous with the Moon and stellar history.

The 10-day mission officially launched from the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Fla. at 6:35 PM EDT, carrying not only three Americans from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration — as well as one from the Canadian Space Agency — but also the well wishes, hopes, and ambitions of the United States, ranging from children to die-hard fans of space exploration. Furthermore, advocates of scientific advancement, pioneering discovery, and national security all have a stake in the first crewed deep-space flight in over 50 years.

The Artemis program was formally established during President Donald Trump’s first term, aiming to “lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.” The $93-billion program aims to return humans to the lunar surface by 2028 and establish a permanent Moon base over the following decade as stepping stones toward manned missions to Mars.

Artemis I kicked off the program in 2022 with an uncrewed Orion orbiting the Moon. Artemis III will test a lunar lander in Earth’s orbit in 2027. Artemis IV seemingly aims to cap the program’s first phase with a manned lunar landing in 2028. NASA then intends for lunar landings to continue yearly as it shifts toward establishing a permanent lunar base.

Action. Wonder. Adventure. Artemis II has got it all. Don’t miss the moment. Our crewed Moon mission will launch as early as April 1.

Learn how to watch: https://t.co/fAg0bGAqEc pic.twitter.com/2uhg8EhwTv

— NASA (@NASA) March 30, 2026

Next stop: The moon We teamed up with @NASA to answer your top Artemis II searches. pic.twitter.com/JA3vf8DrJL

— Google (@Google) March 31, 2026

While the United States remains the only nation to have successfully sent humans to the Moon — 12 across six missions between 1969 and 1972 — and returned them safely home, China seeks to gain the technological edge and global prestige hitherto enjoyed by its superpower rival. China’s ambitions stretch beyond Taiwan, having retrieved the first samples from the far side of the Moon, completed its first low-Earth orbit space station, and landed a rover on Mars within the past five years, executing over 90 orbital launches in 2025 alone.

“Tonight at 6:24 P.M. EST [sic], for the first time in over 50 YEARS, America is going back to the Moon!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday. “Artemis II, among the most powerful rockets ever built, is launching our Brave Astronauts farther into Deep Space than any human has EVER gone. We are WINNING, in Space, on Earth, and everywhere in between — Economically, Militarily, and now, BEYOND THE STARS. Nobody comes close! America doesn’t just compete, we DOMINATE, and the whole World is watching. God bless our incredible Astronauts, God bless NASA, and God bless the Greatest Nation ever to exist, the United States of America!”

To that extent, the Artemis II mission will conduct several scientific and technological demonstrations, including manually piloting Orion, conducting deep-space radiation studies, evaluating human physiology in space (including utilizing organ-chip technology to study the effects of space on human cells), and performing geological photography of the Moon’s far side. Crowning the range of mission firsts expected to be achieved, however, the crew will pass the Moon by 4,700 miles and reenter Earth’s atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour, exceeding previous crewed flights’ distance and reentry speed records.

The mission commander, Reid Wiseman, 50, views the real success as expanding humanity’s presence among the stars to such an extent that such missions become mundane.

Nothing but gratitude for the men and women of this great nation. It is time to fly. pic.twitter.com/n1TGuNt7s9

— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) March 31, 2026

“I hope we’re forgotten. If we are forgotten, then Artemis has been successful,” Wiseman said in a September 2025 interview, “We have humans on Mars. We have humans out on the moons of Saturn. We are expanding in the solar system. Maybe we’ve invented something that we never even dreamed of, and maybe we inspired some kids somewhere. And maybe that’s our footnote.”

“Nothing but gratitude for the men and women of this great nation,” Wiseman posted on X just over 23 hours before liftoff. “It is time to fly.”

Commander Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen leave behind a world frequently embroiled in conflict and divisions, which, for the moment, has set their sights on something greater and more noble than the burdens of everyday life. The world they return to, however, will still be home.

(Featured Image Media Credit: NASA HQ PHOTOS/Creative Commons/Flickr)