NASA Launches Massive Artemis I Rocket in First Step Toward Return to Moon
- Uncrewed Artemis I mission is test run for later moon landing
- Orion capsule to circle moon and return to Earth in 25 days
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
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NASA launched its most powerful rocket in 50 years early Wednesday, sending an uncrewed capsule skyward on a 25-day mission to orbit the moon and return safely to Earth.
The agency’s Space Launch System rocket, with an Orion capsule perched atop it, cleared its Kennedy Space Center launchpad on the Florida coast just after takeoff at 1:48 a.m. local time, its four main engines and twin solid boosters lighting up the night sky.