Artemis I -- NASA's Space Launch System Sends Orion Beyond the Moon

NASA launched Artemis I, the first integrated flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center. The uncrewed mission sent the Orion capsule on a 25.5-day journey beyond the Moon and back, traveling 1.4 million miles and reaching a maximum distance of 268,563 miles from Earth. Orion performed two lunar flybys, entered a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022. The mission validated the SLS and Orion systems ahead of crewed Artemis flights, marking NASA's return to deep-space exploration after the Apollo program.