NASA’s Artemis II mission launched April 1 at 6:35 PM ET from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, marking the first crewed Artemis flight and the inaugural use of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft in deep space since Apollo. The four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen—began a 10-day lunar orbit journey. This historic trip aims to test systems for future crewed moon landings and deeper space exploration.

A few hours after launch, the Orion spacecraft separated from the rocket’s upper stage, initiating proximity operations tests. Astronauts manually piloted the capsule to simulate docking with future lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin—a critical step in validating systems for upcoming moon missions.

Early in the mission, the crew reported a malfunction in the waste-management system, the first toilet designed for deep space. As a backup, they’re using waste bags similar to those discarded on the lunar surface during Apollo missions, highlighting both innovation and contingency planning in space travel.

The crew is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. This mission not only advances NASA’s Artemis program but also sets the stage for sustained lunar exploration and eventual Mars missions, emphasizing the importance of testing reliability in extreme environments.