Four astronauts blasted off aboard a massive NASA rocket on Wednesday (April 1, 2026) on a long-anticipated journey around the Moon, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. “We’re going to the Moon!” yelled a spectator. Read: Artemis II, the international space race, and what is at stake for the U.S. The Artemis II mission uses the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the crew capsule is called Orion. Instead, NASA is flying it to prove that the whole system — from the ground teams to the rocket and its crew — works as designed and the processes to land humans on the moon are ready.

Source: The Hindu April 01, 2026 19:20 UTC