The launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission is causing people to talk not only because of its historical significance, but also because of the images captured by passengers on a commercial flight who watched the moment from the air.
More than half a century after the last manned mission to the Moon, the Space Launch System rocket took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the Orion capsule with four astronauts on board. The mission began at 6:35 pm local time, marking the return of humans to the vicinity of Earth’s natural satellite, 53 years after the Apollo era.
Expected to last 10 days, Artemis II will be the first manned mission of the Artemis program and will take the crew to orbit the Moon before returning to Earth.
The moment of launch was visible from a great distance and ended up being recorded by passengers on a commercial plane, who shared the images on social media, making the event even more impressive.
This launch is seen as a decisive step in a new phase of space exploration, preparing future missions with the aim of returning astronauts to the lunar surface.
Passengers on a commercial flight captured the launch of Artemis II on camera
The plane happened to pass near the launch trajectory at the exact moment of liftoff, giving passengers a rare view of the rocket launch right from their windows.
— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24)
