NASA administrator Jared Isaacman has confirmed a moment of concern during the Artemis 2 Moon launch. Speaking at a press conference at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, he disclosed a “partial loss of comms” around 51 minutes into the mission. Isaacman noted that the rocket successfully took off with 8.8 million pounds of thrust, carrying the Orion spacecraft and the Artemis II crew towards the moon.
During a planned satellite handover, the Orion spacecraft experienced a communication glitch, resulting in a temporary loss of communication. Although the crew could hear incoming messages, there was a brief period where responses were not received. However, Isaacman assured that there were no issues with the spacecraft itself and communication with the crew was swiftly restored. Efforts were underway to address the problem, with updates promised to be shared promptly.
Following a successful separation from the core stage, the Orion spacecraft’s solar arrays were deployed as scheduled. The crew was set to perform the apogee raise burn to position the spacecraft into a stable high Earth orbit for the upcoming journey into cislunar space. This mission marks NASA’s first crewed Moon expedition in over five decades, aiming to venture further into space than any previous human exploration.
The 322-foot rocket, carrying four astronauts, lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 6.36pm local time. After achieving orbit and circling the Earth for approximately 25 hours, the crew was en route to the moon. Commander Reid Wiseman, just five minutes post-launch, excitedly declared their trajectory towards the moon.
The crew boarded the capsule hours before launch, where they would spend the next 10 days in a confined space similar to a small camper van. Prior to boarding, the spacecraft was loaded with over 700,000 gallons of fuel. As they headed to the launch pad, the American and Canadian crew members waved to onlookers, expressing gratitude with hand-formed hearts.
Commander Wiseman shared his enthusiasm with the crowd, calling it a great day for the team. The anticipated lunar flyby would propel the crew over 252,000 miles into space before their return to Earth, surpassing the previous human spaceflight record set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
