Aretmis II launch: Moon mission with NASA astronauts takes off to attempt orbit with crew

GLS verifies last capability available. And CDR, do you copy? CDR copies last available. That's great news and you heard the NTD verify that with the commander of the mission. GLS is go for FTS arm. Now work is being done to arm the flight termination system. This is so the range safety can send the flight termination system. This is so the range safety can send a flight termination command if the rocket flies too far off track. There is a brief built-in delay so the launch abort system has time to pull

the astronauts to safety first. All right the high-flow bleed check. All right, the high flow bleed check. That's so the cryo team gets verification that the RS-25 engines, all four of them, are in the proper temperature range for launch. GLS is go for core stage APU start. Core stage APU start. Those are auxiliary power units, high speed turbines which provide

pressure to hydraulic pumps that steer the RS-25 engines. We're going to see a gimbal test a little later at T-minus two minutes and 30 seconds. This is what allows that to happen. Coming up in about 20 seconds, we're listening for Gopher purge sequence four. That's a helium purge of the four core stage engines downstream of the propellant valve. This gets all the air and moisture out of there. GLS is go for Perse sequence four. Moving through the milestones.

All is looking good. Coming up in just a few seconds, we're going to get that thrust vector control actuator test. This is a gimbling of the engines. There are the four RS-25s, three of them Shuttle Heritage, one of them built from shuttle parts. And there you see them moving.

Now we're going to start moving the power from both the upper stage and the lower stage of the rocket to internal, taking ground power away and now going to battery power. GLS is go for upper stage to internal power. My power is removed from the rocket's upper stage, the ICPS, and it's been switched to battery. Same milestone for the lower core stage coming up at T-minus 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Right now, the four-person Artemis II crew is 248,000 miles away from the moon, and if all goes well, they will fly by it in six days.

GLS is go for core stage to internal power.

All right, there's the rocket's core stage, which houses three flight computers, is now on its own power.

There's no more hold time because there's no more margin on these batteries. So we would have to recycle back to T-10 to recharge if we had a hold.

One minute.

Right now the rocket does not know what the T-0 is, but coming up at T-33 seconds, control shifts from the ground launch sequencer to the rocket's onboard autonomous launch sequencer or ALS. The rocket will count itself down, but honor any holds that could come from the ground. Now shortly after liftoff, Houston will take control of the rocket and my colleague Gary Jordan will take over commentary. GLS scope aerial left. Great call out. The rocket is on its own. Four brave explorers ready to ride the most powerful rocket NASA has ever launched. Sound suppression water is flowing. And here we go.

10, 9, 8, 7, RS-25 engines, lift, 4, 3, 2, 1, booster ignition, and lift off. The crew of Artemis II now bound for the moon. Humanity's next great voyage begins.

Good roll pitch.

Roger. Roll pitch.

Houston, now controlling the flight of Integrity on the Artemis 2 mission around the moon.

Integrity, the Artemis 2 mission around the moon. Integrity AMT high.

AMT high.

On time passing 30 seconds into the flights. Integrity passes the alternate beacon. Target milestone. Mission Control Houston seeing good performance in the engines. Space Launch System core stage, integrity, three miles in altitude, traveling more than 1,200 miles per hour. Mission elapsed time, passing one minute, approaching max Q.

On, constantly on. Stan, we have you loud and clear on constantly on. Have you the same.

Communication signal transfer confirmed as Integrity and its crew go supersonic. Approaching 90 seconds into the Artemis II mission. Integrity is 14 miles in altitude, 8 miles downrange, traveling more than 2,600 miles per hour. One minute, 50 seconds of mission elapsed time standing by for main engine throttle down to 85 percent, ahead of solid rocket booster separation expected at the two minute, nine second mark. We see throttle down.

Converged separation. Converged separation.

Main engines throttling up, guidance converged.