LOOK: People cried, cheered and waved as NASA launches Artemis II mission to the moon

People cried, cheered and waved as Artemis II mission launched on Wednesday (April 1), taking three U.S. astronauts and a Canadian soar for the first crewed lunar voyage in more than half a century.

Maria Alejandra Cardona, Gerardo Gomez

2 April 2026 at 03:15:03

LOOK: People cried, cheered and waved as NASA launches Artemis II mission to the moon

A child gestures on the day of the launch of the next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion crew capsule, part of NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby mission, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Titusville, Florida, U.S., April 1, 2026.

Marco Bello/Reuters

The crew of the Artemis II launch mission to fly by the moon, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, walk to board the astronaut van for their drive to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

STORY: People cried, cheered and waved as Artemis II mission launched on Wednesday (April 1), taking three U.S. astronauts and a Canadian soar for the first crewed lunar voyage in more than half a century.

NASA's Space Launch System rocket, topped with its Orion crew capsule, roared to life just before sunset at 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT) at the agency's Kennedy Space Center to lift its first crew of three U.S. astronauts and a Canadian astronaut off Earth. Its thunderous ascent left behind a towering column of thick white vapor.

The Artemis II crew of NASA astronauts ‌Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen are poised for a nearly 10-day expedition around the moon and back, taking them deeper into space than humans have ever gone.

Production: Maria Alejandra Cardona, Gerardo Gomez/Reuters

NASA's Artemis II mission to fly by the moon, comprising of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

The crew of the Artemis II launch mission to fly by the moon, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, react in front of the astronaut van before heading to launch 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Children react to watching the live broadcast of the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission to fly by the moon, during an event organized by the U.S. Consulate General in Mexico, at La Rodadora museum in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, April 1, 2026. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez