Watch the moment Artemis II launches on historic moon mission

Four U.S. astronauts blasted off from Florida on April 1 on NASA's Artemis II mission, a high‑stakes 10-day trip around the moon that marks the United States' boldest step yet toward returning humans to the lunar surface this decade before China's first crewed landing.

Artemis II took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at around 6:35 p.m. ET, inside the two-hour liftoff window set by NASA that began at 6:24 p.m. ET.

The takeoff was almost derailed in the last minute when an issue popped up with a key flight termination system.

The mission comes more than 50 years after humanity last left Earth's orbit. The astronauts are set to travel to the moon and back (but not land – that's a later mission).

Apart from a return to space, the astronauts on Artemis II will venture farther in space than anyone in human history.

See the Artemis II launch here

USA TODAY's Doyle Rice, Dinah Voyles Pulver and Amanda Lee Myers; Reuters contributed to this report.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.