Artemis I Launched
NASA launched the first Artemis mission, sending Orion around the Moon without crew
November 16, 2022
America Returns to the Moon — Uncrewed
On November 16, 2022, NASA's Space Launch System — the most powerful rocket built since the Saturn V — lifted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying the Orion capsule on the Artemis I mission. No astronauts were aboard; this was a test flight designed to prove the hardware before carrying humans. Orion traveled around the Moon in a distant retrograde orbit, traveling more than 450,000 kilometers from Earth — farther than any spacecraft built for humans had ever ventured. The mission lasted 25.5 days before Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
The Road to Artemis
The Artemis program is NASA's effort to return humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. It has been years in development, delayed by funding challenges, technical issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Space Launch System produces 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff — more than the Saturn V. Artemis I was the culmination of nearly a decade of development and served as the critical test needed to certify the rocket and capsule for crewed flight. Thousands of sensors monitored the spacecraft throughout the mission.
What Comes Next
Artemis I paved the way for Artemis II, which plans to carry four astronauts around the Moon, and Artemis III, which aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. The program intends to establish a sustainable presence at the Moon as a proving ground for a future crewed mission to Mars. The Orion capsule that flew on Artemis I was recovered and inspected — its heat shield, one area of concern, showed more erosion than expected, prompting engineers to study the data carefully before the next crewed launch.