BBC News0%
In pictures: Artemis II roars into space on historic Moon mission 0%
By the Visual Journalism team0%
4/2/2026, 11:25:42 AM
Keywords: Artemis Ii, Moon Mission, Space Exploration, Nasa, Rocket Launch, Astronauts, Florida, Kennedy Space Center
BS Summary: This article contains 16 faulty reasoning types, including Optimism Bias, Appeal to Emotion, and Negativity Bias, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 23.6% saturation with 111 hits. Analysis detected 710 faulty-reasoning hits from 471 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of 0% (0 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 100.00% of the article peer group.
The Artemis II rocket blasted into the sky on Wednesday night as Nasa’s first crewed mission to the Moon in half a century got under way.
While the crew won't land on the lunar surface, their journey around the far side of the Moon and back to Earth will be the furthest any astronaut has travelled in space.
The rocket lifted off at 18:35 local time (22:35 GMT) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, just 11 minutes into its two-hour launch window.
The powerful rocket left a trail of smoke in its wake after the successful lift-off as it reached a speed of more than 10,000mph (16,100km/h).
The twin boosters separated from the rocket as it shot towards the edge of the Earth's atmosphere, before crossing the boundary into space.
Nasa will be releasing images from the mission over the next few days but a live video feed from on board the Orion crew capsule gave us the first glimpse of what the astronauts are seeing.
"Great view," declared spacecraft Commander Reid Wiseman.
"We have got a great Moonrise."
There were concerns earlier in the day that the weather could scupper the launch but the clouds cleared just in time for the Artemis II crew to begin their journey.
Crowds of people gathered along Florida’s Space Coast to watch the event, with many of them at viewing points in Titusville, a city across the Indian River from Nasa’s launch complex.
The astronauts were carried into space by Nasa’s mega Moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) - the most powerful rocket the US space agency has ever built.
Rebecca Morelle, the BBC’s science editor who was at the launch, described the moment as “spectacular” as she became visibly emotional at the sight.
You can watch her reaction to the launch in the video below.
The crew of four is made up of Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen and three Americans - Nasa Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch.
There were some emotional moments, but they otherwise looked quite relaxed as they were waved off by friends and family at the Kennedy Space Center before being driven to the launch site.
They will be the first people to orbit the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The Artemis II mission represents far more than the 10-day journey itself and is seen as a pivotal moment for space exploration.
Nasa hopes it will bring a new understanding of the Moon and eventually lead to the first lunar landing since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s.
Speaking after the launch, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman said: “After a brief 54 year intermission, Nasa is back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon.”
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