by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 1, 2026
Four astronauts blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida this evening on NASA’s long-awaited monumental 10-day mission to circumnavigate the moon.
The rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. ET from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The mission does not include a lunar landing but is intended as a step toward a landing in 2028 and, eventually, toward NASA’s goal of establishing a long-term presence on the moon and building a base there.
The mission crew includes NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch along with the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen.
Related — ‘Ignition’: NASA charges to the Moon, building Trump momentum at Beijing visit, March 27, 2026
They are the first people to launch toward the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, more than 50 years ago. They are also the first astronauts whom NASA’s giant Space Launch System rocket has ever launched into space.
“The United States is now leading the return to Moon with depth of commitment and programs that offers plenty of opportunity for the 61 signatories of the Artemis Accords to join in the future commercially-led exploitation of the Moon,” China and space specialist Rick Fisher wrote in a March 24 report for Geostrategy-Direct.com.
He added:
In addition, the U.S. plan to build a presence on the Moon is being done with such speed and breadth that — so far — greatly exceeds China’s known plans for populating the Moon, and just as important, will proceed with a level of transparency that puts great political pressure on China to also build a peaceful non-military lunar presence — a key goal of the Artemis Accords.
NASA briefings on March 24 “made clear that NASA is already focused intently on fulfilling President Donald Trump’s goal to return Americans to the Moon before the end of his term in 2029,” Fisher reported.
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