NASA launched a mega rocket headed to a swing around the moon on Wednesday, marking a return human journey beyond Earth’s orbit for the first time in more than a half century.
Broadcast and cable networks carried the launch, but in contrast to the Apollo launches of the 1960s and 70s, the liftoff didn’t get the same level of attention as those historic journeys. The launch was among a number of stories that dominated cable news headlines through the day, including the Supreme Court arguments on birthright citizenship and previews of Donald Trump’s planned primetime address on Iran later on Wednesday evening.
The mission is NASA’s first with astronauts to the moon since 1972, the final Apollo landing.
But the Artemis II mission is planned as a prelude to future missions. The astronauts will not be landing on the lunar surface, nor will they orbit the moon. But they will be taking a figure eight around it, flying 230,000 miles into space, or the farthest any human has traveled away from Earth.
Four astronauts are onboard, including Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover and Mission Specialist Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen. The 10-day mission will essentially be a flyby of the moon, with plans to land on the surface some time in 2028.
The coverage of the launch was a bit of a waiting game, with a 10 minute hold resolved before the final 10-minute countdown.
On CNN, Miles O’Brien, a veteran of NASA coverage, provided commentary. After the launch, William Shatner, 95, shared his thoughts about “the fear that must be mixed with the sense of victory, with those people incarcerated in that ship.”
“With all their practice, with all their ingenuity, with all their technology, the fear of what could possibly happen must be lurking somewhere, and it certainly was in my brain,” Shatner said. In 2021, he was part of Jeff Bezos’ privately funded Blue Origin space shot.
Bwefore the launch on Fox News, Charles Duke, 90, lunar module pilot of Apollo 16, rejected conspiracy theories about earlier missions.
“We got 600 pounds of moon rocks, which are totally different from Earth rocks,” he said, before telling Bret Baier that he was “praying for the success of this.”