One day after Artemis II launched on the first crewed moon mission in 50 years, four astronauts are expected to be in high Earth orbit, conducting system checks and tests, and with a now-working toilet to boot.
The mission launched on April 1 at about 6:35 p.m. and is set to bring the astronauts, NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen, farther into space than anyone has ever gone.
Artemis II was launched to test life-support systems, navigation and communications to prepare for future lunar landings. The expedition will take the astronauts around the moon and back to Earth, but they won't make a lunar landing this time.
Tracking Artemis II: Here's when astronauts will reach moon
"This mission is a critical step toward returning humans to the lunar surface and preparing for long‑duration exploration to Mars and beyond," NASA said.
