NASA's Artemis II Mission Launches, Sending Astronauts on Historic Lunar Orbit

NASA's Artemis II mission launched on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. Eastern time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, corresponding to April 2 around 4:00 AM Sri Lanka time. The mission, carrying four astronauts in the Orion crew capsule atop a Space Launch Systems rocket, marks the first time humans are flying towards the moon in over half a century (53-57 years). This 10-day rehearsal mission will take the crew more than 400,000 kilometers from Earth, flying by the moon at an altitude of approximately 8,000 kilometers. The capsule will not land on the moon but will orbit around it before returning to Earth. The crew is commanded by Reid Wiseman. According to space scientist and engineering lecturer Gihan Weerasekera, a long-term objective of the mission is to establish a human settlement on the moon.