Astronauts begin NASA mission to pass by the moonAFP, KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FloridaFour astronauts on Wednesday blasted off aboard a massive NASA rocket on a journey around the moon, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. With a thunderous roar, the enormous orange-and-white rocket carried three Americans and one Canadian away from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at about 6:35pm. NASA teams and spectators alike were ecstatic as the spacecraft ascended into a radiant sky atop a cascade of flames. The Artemis II lunar mission lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday. The astronauts were “safe, they’re secure and they’re in great spirits,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.

Source: Taipei Times April 02, 2026 17:47 UTC