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  • 6 weeks ago
NASA's Reid Williams (commander), Victor Glover (pilot) and Christina Koch (mission specialist), along with mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have begun their journey to the moon.

The Space Launch System rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, 2026 at 6:35pm ET.

Credit: NASA
Transcript
00:00One minute.
00:02Right now, the rocket does not know what the T-0 is,
00:05but coming up at T-minus 33 seconds,
00:08control shifts from the ground launch sequencer
00:10to the rocket's onboard autonomous launch sequencer, or ALS.
00:14The rocket will count itself down,
00:16but honor any holds that could come from the ground.
00:20Now, shortly after liftoff,
00:21Houston will take control of the rocket,
00:23and my colleague, Gary Jordan, will take over commentary.
00:26Gary, GLS scope area left.
00:30Great call out.
00:31The rocket is on its own.
00:33Four brave explorers ready to ride the most powerful rocket
00:39NASA has ever launched.
00:44Sound suppression water is flowing.
00:48And here we go.
00:50Ten, nine, eight, seven.
00:54RS-25 engines.
00:56Eight, four, three, two, one.
01:00Booster ignition.
01:01And liftoff.
01:04The crew of Artemis II now bound for the moon.
01:07Humanity's next great voyage begins.
01:14Good roll pitch.
01:17Roger.
01:18Roll pitch.
01:21Houston now controlling the flight of integrity
01:23on the Artemis II mission around the moon.
01:30Integrity, AMT high.
01:33AMT high.
01:35On time passing 30 seconds into the flights.
01:38Integrity passes the alternate deco.
01:40Target milestone.
01:41Mission control Houston seeing good performance
01:43on the orbit of engines.
01:44Space launch system core stage.
01:46Integrity, three miles in altitude.
01:49Traveling more than 1200 miles per hour.
02:12Mission elapsed time.
02:13Passing one minute.
02:14Approaching max-q.
02:16On, Ponce de Leon.
02:19Stan, we have you loud and clear on Ponce de Leon.
02:22Have you the same.
02:25Communication signal transfer confirmed
02:27as integrity and its crew go supersonic.
02:30Approaching 90 seconds into the Artemis II mission.
02:33Integrity is 14 miles in altitude,
02:35eight miles downrange.
02:36Traveling more than 2600 miles per hour.
02:55One minute and 50 seconds of mission elapsed time.
02:57Standing by for main engine throttle down to 85%.
03:00Ahead of solid rocket booster separation.
03:03Expected at the two minute, nine second mark.
03:07We see throttle down.
03:15Confirmed separation.
03:17Main engine's throttling up.
03:19Guidance converged.
03:28Integrity, guidance converged.
03:30Performance nominal.
03:31Upper stage RCS ready.
03:41Integrity, SM priming complete.
03:44SM priming complete.
03:48Two minutes, 45 seconds of mission elapsed time
03:50into the Artemis II mission.
03:51Thrusters on integrity and upper stage
03:54confirmed in a ready state.
03:55Ahead of service module fairing separation.
04:02Three minutes into the flight.
04:04Integrity, 49 miles in altitude, 78 miles downrange.
04:08Now passing 5,000 miles per hour.
04:24Stand by for launch abort system jettison.
04:29Houston integrity.
04:31Good last jettison.
04:32Great view.
04:33Great view.
04:35Copy jettison.
04:37Team eco, eight plus zero two.
04:42We see you sail on board, Stan.
04:46And Houston has you loud and clear on Tedrus at the common line.
04:53Outstanding, Stan.
04:54We have you the same.
04:57Three minutes, 50 seconds into the flight of Artemis II, Wiseman, Glover, Cook, and Hansen
05:01crossed the boundary to space with good comm checks.
05:04GPS signals acquired after last jettison now working on internal checks to verify accuracy.
05:10Flight dynamics officer analyzed the time of main engine cutoff,
05:13confirmed at eight minutes, two seconds, time of MECO.
05:52We see the same and we have a beautiful moonrise, we're headed right at it.
06:01Approaching five minutes into the flight, Commander Reed Wiseman confirms he has visuals of his destination.
06:07GPS guidance navigation and control software finishes internal checks and sends to navigation channels.
06:25On time now, passing five minutes twenty seconds of mission elapsed time into the Artemis II mission.
06:30At this point, three good main engines are all that's needed to carry integrity to a nominal main engine cutoff
06:35target.
06:36Though at this time, we're seeing four good engines here in Mission Control Houston.
06:40Integrity, seventy-five miles in altitude, three hundred thirty miles downrange, approaching ten thousand miles per hour.
07:03Integrity, looking good at six minutes.
07:09Same on board, Stan.
07:13Good trajectory and engine performance.
07:16Booster officer will soon report the shutdown plan to Flight Director Judd Freeling expected at the seven-minute mark.
07:25Integrity, seventy-eight miles in altitude, four hundred sixty miles downrange.
07:30Integrity, expect nominal shutdown.
07:36Integrity copies nominal, shutdown.
07:44Six minutes forty seconds of mission elapsed time, shutdown plan is as expected.
07:49Again, the time of MECA was confirmed at eight minutes, two seconds into the flight.
08:05Seven minutes of mission elapsed time.
08:12Throttling down as we approach the abort once-around option.
08:16Milestone at the seven-minute thirty-second mark.
08:20Now eighty-four miles in altitude, six hundred fifty miles downrange, traveling more than fifteen thousand miles per hour.
08:30Integrity, AOA open.
08:39The window is now open for an abort once-around option that would target splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
08:44Still following nominal ascent at this time.
08:58About ten seconds remaining until the main engine cutoff of the Space Launch System core stage.
09:04Standing by for confirmation of MECO and core stage separation.
09:26Integrity, nominal MECO, core stage separated.
09:35We see the same onboard, Stan.
09:45Eight minutes forty seconds into the flight, we have a nominal main engine cutoff heading in the right trajectory on
09:50the way to swing around the moon.
09:52Core stage has separated, done its job.
09:54The Space Launch System upper stage, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, or ICPS, still attached to the Orion spacecraft.
10:06Nine minutes of mission elapsed time.
10:08Integrity crew of Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen now in orbit around the Earth at the
10:14beginning of their journey to the moon.
10:15The Space Launch System.
10:15The Space Launch System.
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