U.S. launches Artemis II crewed Moon mission

NASA's Artemis II moon mission lifted off from the U.S. state of Florida on Wednesday, carrying four astronauts on the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than 50 years. It is NASA's first crewed mission under the Artemis program.

The Artemis II mission will demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on deep space missions. It aims to validate Orion's life-support systems and allow astronauts to practice operations critical to the success of Artemis III and subsequent lunar missions, according to NASA.