NASA’s Artemis rocket ship on course for moon after epic launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – NASA’s next-generation rocket ship was on target Wednesday for a crewless voyage across the moon and again, launched from Florida on its debut flight half a century after the ultimate lunar mission of the Apollo period.

The much-delayed launch kicked off Apollo’s successor program, Artemis, geared toward returning astronauts to the lunar floor this decade and establishing a sustainable base there as a stepping stone to future human exploration of Mars.