Blasting back to the Moon on the Artemis II mission and Orion II rocket

Across Southwest Florida, locals and visitors gathered with families and looked to the east on Wednesday to catch a glimpse of the Artemis rocket, which took off from Cape Canaveral. A crowd gathered on the Bayou Bridge to witness the Artemis II rocket pierce the night sky.

The launch from Cape Canaveral, scheduled for 6:24 p.m., ended up lifting off at 6:35 p.m.

To catch a glimpse, the gathered needed clear skies. The weather held, and for a few minutes, conversations stopped, phones were raised and the assembled crowd watched in collective awe as the fiery trail arced upward before fading into the darkness.

On board were NASA astronauts Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. They were the first people to launch toward the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, more than 50 years ago.

As of this weekend, they will be traveling on a 10-day journey around the moon.