NASA launched the most powerful rocket ever built on a journey to the Moon, marking the start of the space agency's new flagship program Artemis. | via philstarlife
Fixed to the rocket's top was the uncrewed Orion spaceship that will orbit Earth's nearest neighbor, in a test run for later flights that should see the first woman and first person of color touch down on lunar soil by the mid-2020s.
There were nervous moments as teams worked to overcome technical issues that ate into the two-hour launch window, which opened at 1:04 am. "My first memory is my mother waking me up at two years old to watch the Moon landing and I've always wanted to see a launch ever since, and now I have." The upper stage will meanwhile release 10 CubeSats to carry out science experiments, including one that will unfurl a sail-powered by sunlight and perform asteroid reconnaissance work.