Artemis II Blasts Off on Deep Space Mission

It's April 1st.

This is Dallas News Today, your AI-powered local news.

Artemis II is blasting off today from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the second

mission in NASA's Artemis program.

This 10-day trip sends four astronauts into deep space, looping around the Moon's orbit

before splashing back to Earth.

Leading the crew are Commander Reed Weisman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist

Christina Koch and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

Teams gave the Green Life for fueling the massive space launch system rocket early this

morning at 7.33 a.m. chilling down the liquid.

Oxygen and hydrogen lines to get everything primed.

Weather's cooperating too.

With any afternoon showers expected to clear out well before the two-hour launch window

opens at 6.24 p.m., folks across Florida and southern Georgia are gearing up to catch

the show, with visibility maps showing prime spots to see the rocket streak through.

The night sky for the first 10 seconds or so.

Near the space coast, you might even hear that deep roar from the engines, nothing like

a sonic boom, but still epic.

One cool detail, a zero-gravity indicator called Rise, designed by a second-grade kid from

California, carries a memory card with 5.6.

Even names from people worldwide, hitching a ride to the moon.

As NASA ramps of coverage starting at 12.50 p.m., this launch kicks off the next chapter

in human space exploration, paving the way for boots, back on the lunar surface.