Artemis II launches its historic moon mission: See the launch and mission details | Mashable

April 7, 2026April 6, 2026 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For the first time, a woman and a Black astronaut are headed into deep space, breaking through the glass ceiling of low-Earth orbit as they attempt to circle the moon.

At 6:35 p.m. ET on April 1, NASA’s 32-story Space Launch System lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. With the horsepower of 160,000 Corvettes, the rocket sent up a column of fire and vapor over the Atlantic Coast. This was no April Fool’s Day gag, but a signal that the United States has returned to human-led space exploration.

NASA’s Artemis moon mission won’t launch anytime soon | Mashable

September 5, 2022September 4, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

NASA will not slingshot a spacecraft around the moon this week following two previous called-off launch attempts, officials confirmed at a news conference Saturday evening.

That means the team will likely haul the gigantic, 322-foot Space Launch System rocket back to its hangar, the Vehicle Assembly Building, and perhaps take another shot at the moon in October. The U.S. space agency is bumping up against a launch blackout period and can’t conflict with a SpaceX flight carrying astronauts to the International Space Station in a few weeks.