Breathtaking And Iconic Artemis II Liftoff In Pictures - Humans Return To Moon After Half A Century

A 32-story rocket, carrying 4 astronauts, launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, marking a significant step toward establishing a permanent presence on the moon. Thousands gathered to witness it.

Image: AP

NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Centre hours ahead of launch on Wednesday, April 1, in Cape Canaveral. Image: AP

Moments before NASA’s Artemis II embarked on a historic journey.

Image: AP

The NASA Artemis II mission successfully launched the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft. Image: AP

Artemis II launched from the same Florida site that sent Apollo's explorers to the moon long ago. Image: AP

Five minutes into the flight, Commander Reid Wiseman remarked, "We have a beautiful moonrise ahead; we’re headed right for it," from the capsule. Image: AP

The Artemis II flight path will reach 402,000 km from Earth, breaking Apollo 13's record of 400,171 km, and cover over one million km, like driving across the US coast to coast 200 times.

Image: AP