NASA's Artemis | Moon Mission: launch to splashdown Highlights

Ride along with NASA's Orion capsule on the
Artemis I mission around the Moon and back.

At 1:47 a.m. EST (6:47 UTC) on Nov. 16, 2022,
NASA's Orion spacecraft launched atop the Space
Launch System (SLS) rocket from historic Launch
Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on a
path to the Moon, officially beginning the Artemis |
mission. Over the course of 25.5 days, Orion
performed two lunar flybys, coming within 80
miles (129 kilometers) of the lunar surface. At its
farthest distance during the mission, Orion
traveled nearly 270,000 miles (435,000 kilometers)
from our home planet. NASA's Orion spacecraft
successfully completed a parachute-assisted
splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 9:40 a.m. PST
(12:40 p.m. EST) as the final major milestone of
the Artemis I mission.
Artemis I was the first integrated test of NASA's
deep space exploration systems - the Orion
spacecraft, SLS rocket, and the supporting ground
systems - and the first in a series of increasingly
complex missions at the Moon. Over the course of
the flight test, flight controllers tested Orion's
capabilities in the harsh environment of deep
space to prepare for flying astronauts on Artemis
I. Through Artemis missions, NASA will establish
a long-term lunar presence for scientific discovery
and prepare for human missions to Mars.