It is a historic moment for space travel: For the first time since the end of the Apollo missions in 1972, astronauts have left Earth’s orbit and are flying towards the moon again. Tonight at 00:35 our time, NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) carrier rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral with the Orion capsule and four astronauts. After two orbits around the Earth, the space capsule will leave Earth’s orbit tonight and head towards the Moon. Over the course of the next nine days, it goes around the moon and back in an eight-shaped loop. Behind the moon, the four Artemis 2 astronauts will be further from Earth than any human being before them.
NASA’s Artemis program is intended to usher in the return of humans to the moon. According to the current schedule, a US moon landing is planned for 2028. However, achieving this goal is proving to be a real challenge. On the one hand, since the legendary Saturn V was mothballed, there has been no launch vehicle anywhere in the world that could carry the load of a manned spaceship beyond Earth orbit. NASA therefore developed a new launch vehicle for the Artemis program: the Space Launch System (SLS). Together with the Orion, the space capsule for the astronauts, the ensemble is 98 meters high – making it the largest rocket ever built.
However, the Artemis program has experienced numerous delays, cost increases and technical problems. In the year 202, Artemis 1 finally completed the first unmanned orbit around the moon. At the beginning of February 2026 – also after several postponements – the manned orbit of the moon with Artemis 2 should follow. But during the refueling test shortly before takeoff, hydrogen leaks and helium inflow disruptions occurred, so the start date had to be postponed.
Mission progression from launch to departure from Earth orbit
Now the time has finally come: At 6:35 p.m. local time – 12:35 a.m. Central European Summer Time – the NASA SLS (Space Launch System) carrier rocket with the Orion space capsule and the four astronauts on board lifted off from launch pad 39b in Cape Canaveral. The team of three experienced NASA astronauts – commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch – and Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen are now underway. Around two minutes after take-off, at an altitude of almost 50 kilometers, the solid-fuel rockets burned out and were jettisoned, as was the emergency system for aborting the take-off. Around eight minutes after takeoff, the SLS’s main engines had also used up their fuel – more than 2.6 million liters of liquid hydrogen and oxygen – and were also separated. After two ignitions of the rocket’s upper stage, the Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), the Orion capsule now flies in an elliptical trajectory around the Earth for two orbits.
(Video: NASA)
Tonight – a good 25 hours after launch – the engines of the European Service Module ESM will fire to bring Artemis 2 out of Earth’s gravity field. The ESM marks a premiere because it is the first time NASA has used a critical component on a lunar mission that does not come from the USA. The module includes the engine required for the lunar flight, solar panels to power the space capsule, air conditioning systems and supplies of fuel, oxygen and water for the crew. The ESM is only separated and thrown off shortly before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
To the moon and back
Artemis 2’s orbit around the moon follows a figure-eight trajectory, the so-called free return path. The spacecraft is redirected solely by the lunar gravity and brought back onto Earth’s course – without the need for additional braking or acceleration maneuvers. Apollo 8 also followed this course. After a one-way flight of around four days, Artemis 2 will orbit the moon in a wide arc. During their passage behind the moon, the astronauts will be around 400,000 kilometers from Earth – further than any human has ever been before them. Meanwhile, the crew will photograph the lunar surface and carry out measurements, and the first test of optical data transmission using lasers is also planned. From the sixth day of the mission, Artemis 2 begins its return flight to Earth. The astronauts now have to carry out medical experiments, as well as several rest periods.
On the tenth day after launch, the last critical phase of the Artemis 2 mission follows: re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The Orion capsule has a speed of around 40,000 kilometers per hour. Even in the thin outer atmosphere, this is enough to generate a plasma hotter than 2,700 degrees on the outside of the space capsule. The heat shield coated with special ceramic plates is intended to provide protection from this. However, there were problems with this heat shield on Artemis 1: After landing, the heat protection tiles of the Orion capsule showed unexpectedly severe damage, and the coating was chipped or torn in many places. In order to avoid a similar situation with Artemis 2, the NSA is planning a modified trajectory for the re-entry of the four astronauts: This time the Orion capsule should perform less pronounced “hops” at the edge of the atmosphere and dive more steeply. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to protect the astronauts in the space capsule. If all goes well, the Orion capsule will land in the Pacific using parachutes.
Source: NASA