A passenger on board a commercial plane flying close to the location recorded the moment of the incident, which took place on Wednesday (April 1, 2026). The images show the rocket crossing the sky and leaving a trail of smoke visible above the clouds. The video gained repercussion on social media for showing the launch from an unusual angle, seen from above and a few km from the base.
Artemis 2 is the first manned mission in the NASA program that aims to take humans back to the Moon after more than 50 years. The trip should last around 10 days. The 4 astronauts on board the Orion capsule will fly around the natural satellite, without landing. The ship’s for future missions.
Watch the video (2min02s):
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)
NASA launched the mission at 7:35 pm (Brasília time) on Wednesday (April 1), from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. The space agency’s live broadcast brought together more than 2.8 million simultaneous viewers during the launch.
It is the first manned mission to the Moon since Apollo 17, completed in. The objective is not to land on the Moon. Artemis 2 will make a flight of around 10 days, with the ship orbiting the natural satellite before returning to Earth. The mission works as a dress rehearsal for Artemis 3, planned to land. Engineers perform systems, communications and life support tests during the trip.
Here are those from Artemis 2:
- Reid Wiseman – Navy veteran and commander;
- Victor Glover – mission pilot;
- Christina Koch – engineer and mission specialist;
- Jeremy Hansen – former fighter pilot and mission specialist.
Watch the launch moment:
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