In a monumental step for space exploration, four astronauts launched on a mission around the moon on Thursday, marking humanity’s first lunar journey in over 50 years. This mission is the thrilling precursor to NASA’s ambitious goal of landing on the moon within the next two years.

The spacecraft, carrying three American astronauts and one Canadian, rocketed into the sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida around 9:30 a.m. AEDT Thursday (6:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday). The event drew tens of thousands of spectators eager to witness the commencement of this new chapter in lunar exploration.

A sense of nostalgia filled the air as roads and beaches near the launch site were packed with onlookers, reminiscent of the crowd sizes during the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s. This mission is a significant milestone in NASA’s efforts to establish a long-term human presence on the moon.

The Artemis II mission launched from the historic site that once sent Apollo astronauts to the moon. The few surviving Apollo astronauts celebrated this new era of exploration as the Space Launch System rocket soared into the evening sky, with the nearly full moon shining brightly approximately 400,000 kilometers away.

Earlier in the day, cheers and applause erupted from the crowd as the astronauts made their way to the launch pad in their astrovan, embarking on the 14-kilometer journey to their spacecraft.

Earlier, the crowd applauded and cheered again as the astronauts boarded their astrovan for the 14km ride to the launch pad.

Commander Reid Wiseman thanked the throngs who gathered to see them off.

“It’s a great day for us. It’s a great day for this team,” Wiseman called out.

They won’t pause for a stopover or orbit the moon like Apollo 8’s first lunar visitors did so famously on Christmas Eve 1968.

But they stand to become the most distant humans ever when their capsule zooms past the moon and continues another 6,400km beyond, before making a U-turn and tearing straight home to a splashdown in the Pacific.

Once settled in a high orbit around Earth, the astronauts planned to assume manual control and practice steering their capsule around the rocket’s detached upper stage, venturing within 10 metres.

NASA wants to know how Orion handles in case the self-flying feature fails and the pilots need to take control.

Four days later during the lunar flyby, the moon will appear to be the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.

The astronauts will take turns peering through Orion’s windows with cameras.

If the lighting is right, they should see features never before viewed through human eyes.

They’ll also catch snippets of a total solar eclipse, donning eclipse glasses as the moon briefly blocks the sun from their perspective and the corona is revealed.

All of NASA’s moon plans — a surge in launches over the next several years leading to a sustainable moon base for astronauts assisted by robotic rovers and drones — hinge on Artemis II going well.

It’s been more than three years since Artemis I, the only other time NASA’s SLS rocket and Orion capsule have soared.

With no one aboard, the Artemis I capsule lacked life-support equipment and other crew essentials like a water dispenser and toilet.

These systems are now making their space debut on Artemis II, ratcheting up the risk.

That’s why NASA is waiting a full day before committing Wiseman and his crew to a four-day trip to the moon and four-day journey back.

Astronauts last flew to the moon during Apollo 17 in 1972.

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