Latest

2 April 2026 12:15

Dr Ngobani Makhubu appointed new SARS Commissioner

South African Revenue Service (SARS)

2 April 2026 12:00

Minister Ntshavheni blames panic buying for dry pumps, rules out war impact

2 April 2026 11:45

Transport Minister Creecy concerned about rising child brain trauma from crashes

Easter

WATCH: NASA launches 1st mission to moon in over 50 years

Chante Ho Hip

2 April 2026 | 10:58

The spacecraft is now orbiting the Earth and will go on a 10-day journey, circling the moon.

Crew members of the Artemis II lunar mission. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/NASA/Bill Ingalls

More than 50 years after its lunar era, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officially kicked off its mission to the moon on Wednesday local time.

The Artemis 2 spacecraft departed from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6.35 pm Eastern Time (1.35 am South Africa time).

The crew includes four astronauts: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen.

The spacecraft is now orbiting Earth and will go on a 10-day journey, circling the moon.

For the first time in over 50 years, humans are Moonbound.

At 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 UTC) NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft lifted off from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending four astronauts on a planned test flight around the Moon and… pic.twitter.com/v6kaAUV4Iy
— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2026

Liftoff.

The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.

Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars. pic.twitter.com/ENQA4RTqAc
— NASA (@NASA) April 1, 2026

Check out the first pictures of the #Artemis II launch from our remote cameras. Keep checking back for more! 📷 https://t.co/0AEy2WWeQo pic.twitter.com/gOTItZnucJ
— NASA HQ PHOTO (@nasahqphoto) April 2, 2026

The Orion spacecraft successfully separated from the upper stage of the rocket, and the "proximity operations" test is underway. The Artemis II astronauts are manually piloting Orion similarly to how they would if they were docking with another spacecraft. pic.twitter.com/RWW4RSyaoq
— NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2026

To listen to Primedia+ Digital Content Editor Barbara Friedman in conversation with CapeTalk’s Clarence Ford, use the audio player below: