Artemis I Liftoff

NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher are in view on the pad at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 15, 2022. Liftoff was at 1:47 a.m. EST on Nov. 16. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.