Watch: NASA's Artemis II launches for historic mission

NASA launched its Artemis II rocket Wednesday evening at 6:35 p.m. with four crew members aboard, marking a significant milestone in the agency's effort to return humans to the Moon. The mission represents NASA's second crewed test flight of its Artemis program, which aims to establish sustainable lunar exploration and eventually support missions to Mars. Artemis II will test life support systems and other critical hardware in the harsh environment of deep space before NASA conducts a crewed lunar landing in subsequent Artemis missions. The successful launch advances NASA's broader goal of building a lasting human presence beyond Earth orbit.