Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA), Apr. 2 (LaPresse) – The Artemis II mission has launched from the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, marking humanity’s return toward the Moon more than half a century after the Apollo missions. On board the Orion capsule are four astronauts: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, engaged in a mission lasting approximately 10 days. After liftoff, which took place in front of tens of thousands of spectators, the crew successfully reached Earth orbit, where they will remain for about 25 hours to verify the capsule systems before the decisive thrust toward the Moon. The program includes a lunar flyby without landing, but with a trajectory extending beyond the satellite’s orbit to about 6,400 kilometers farther, making the crew the most distant ever from Earth. During the flight, manual maneuvers are planned to test capsule control and simulate possible failures of the automatic systems, in addition to scientific and photographic observations of the lunar surface and deep space. The astronauts will also witness a total solar eclipse, observing the solar corona with dedicated instruments. The launch took place without issues despite previous technical problems, including hydrogen leaks, anomalies in the safety systems and a battery out of temperature range, all resolved before liftoff. The mission represents a key step for NASA’s future objectives, including increasing missions and establishing a stable and sustainable human presence on the Moon.