Astronomy

Historic photos of the launch of Artemis 2 to the Moon

By Freeman on 04-02-2026

Artemis 2 is now headed for the Moon; the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifted off on the night of April 1-2, 2026, carrying the Orion capsule and four astronauts (Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen).

However, there are no plans to set foot on the Moon; the astronauts will instead orbit it for about ten days.
This is the first time in 50 years that a crew has returned to the vicinity of the Moon. To set foot on our faithful satellite, we will have to wait until 2028 and the Artemis 4 mission. Naturally, NASA marked the occasion by taking photos of the rocket during its liftoff. We are sharing these photos with you below.