CAPE CANAVERAL – NASA’s Artemis II mission lifted off Wednesday evening, marking the first crewed lunar flyby since the Apollo era more than half a century ago.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket roared from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. EDT, carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on a 10-day test flight around the Moon and back.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will evaluate Orion’s systems in preparation for future lunar landings and eventual missions to Mars.

“Artemis II is a test flight, and the test has just begun,” said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya. “Over the next 10 days, the crew will put Orion through its paces so future missions can reach the Moon’s surface with confidence.”

Shortly after reaching orbit, Orion deployed its solar arrays and transitioned to flight operations. The spacecraft, nicknamed “Integrity,” will enter a high Earth orbit before a planned burn sends it on a trajectory around the Moon.

During a multi-hour lunar flyby on April 6, the crew will capture images and observations of the Moon’s far side, before returning for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

The mission is the first crewed flight of NASA’s Artemis program, designed to establish a long-term presence on the Moon and lay groundwork for human exploration of Mars.