Nasa's Artemis II mission begins journey to the Moon

NASA's Artemis II mission successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years. The spacecraft Orion carries four astronauts: Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen. After separating from the Space Launch System rocket, the crew entered Earth's orbit to perform systems tests before executing the trans-lunar injection maneuver. The 10-day mission will take the crew around the far side of the Moon in a figure-eight trajectory, reaching a distance of over 400,000 kilometers from Earth. During the flight, the crew reported minor technical issues with onboard toilets, which were resolved with guidance from mission control. Astronauts shared high-resolution photos of Earth taken via tablet and described their experiences of living in zero gravity. The mission serves as a critical step toward future lunar landings planned for 2028.