[kellyhound]

The maiden flight of the agency's SLS rocket and Orion capsule initiates an ambitious plan to return humans to the lunar surface.

NASA's plan to return humans to the moon is one small step closer to reality with the launch of its most powerful rocket ever. During the dark and early hours of Wednesday morning -- following a painstaking road to launch -- the agency's mammoth, tangerine Space Launch System finally flared to life, lifting off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center.

And it was brilliant.

"We are all part of something incredibly special," launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said just before getting her tie cut -- a lovely NASA tradition that humbly marks the first solo flight of a deserving team member. "The first launch of Artemis. The first step in returning our country to the moon -- and on [to] Mars."

Engineers and scientists at NASA mission control giddily embraced as the massive SLS rocket, with the Orion crew capsule at its crown, passed critical checkpoints, discarded its massive core stage just minutes into the flight and sent its snow-white spire off on an epic cosmic journey. You could almost feel the team's anxiety turn to relief as this multibillion-dollar machine pierced the atmosphere unscathed.

"I want you to look around at this team and know that you have earned it," Blackwell-Thompson said to the mission control room post-launch. "You have earned a place in the room; you have earned this moment; you have earned a place in history."

The historic launch of the Artemis I mission comes after years of delays, setbacks, doubts over viability and increasing costs. It potentially lays the groundwork for astronauts to place their boots in the sticky, gray lunar soil in the coming years -- and perhaps, the red sands of Mars in the distant future. But, of course, there's a long way to go before sci-fi destinations fall within our reach.

Finally, just after 1:45 a.m. ET Wednesday (10:45 p.m. PT Tuesday), Artemis I's lunar journey began. The liftoff, streamed across the world in glorious high definition, was a far cry from the grainy footage of Saturn V rockets that crackled through old CRT TVs in the late '60s -- aka, NASA's first dance with Earth's glowing companion.

As the SLS punched through the sky, smoke and fire billowing from its rocket engines, it discarded its side boosters and reached a speed of 17,430 miles per hour before main engine cutoff.

The Artemis team's extraordinary mission was designed to last up to 42 days -- but in the short term, Orion's major goal is simply to get to the moon.

If all goes as planned, the spacecraft is expected to enter the gravitational field of the moon by about Nov. 21, and shortly after, it will make a close pass by the moon, just 60 miles from the surface. That should make for some spectacular footage -- maybe a re-creation of Apollo 8's Earthrise?

Of course, with only dummies on board Orion, Apollo 13's record won't exactly be broken, but the capsule is still expected to reach a jaw-dropping maximum distance of around 280,000 miles from Earth. And along the way, it will have dropped small satellites -- cubesats -- from universities, manufacturers and space agencies across the world.

Some of these will image the moon or search for water. Others will test the effects of space radiation on yeast, measure particles and magnetic fields or test propulsion systems. There's also the NEA Scout, which will travel by solar sail to take pictures of the near-Earth asteroid 2020 GE, though that target is still subject to change.

The follow-up mission, Artemis II, will feature three NASA astronauts and one astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency. The fate of that mission rests on the coming weeks and Artemis I. At present, it's scheduled to launch in May 2024.

[William May]

It launched at 1:46 am. I watched it live. It was pretty cool, watching the final preparations, and then the various "holds" and then the final announcement of 10 minutes to launch, and the final countdown. They narrated the last 10 minutes, as the launch computer actually controls the final launch, checking everything 20 times a second, and they narrated what was going to happen at a certain point, and then you watch as that actually occurs. To me it was pretty pulse-pounding, but since I love space, I guess I'm a dork that way. I award NASA 20 corns!

[houseoftechno]

Yeah, that night-launch woke me up too. I heard the rumble, opened up the door, confirmed that the rocket was going up like is it supposed to do. With my job complete, I went to bed was back asleep in 5 minutes or so.

[kellyhound]

earth rise seen from moon perspective.