Artemis II updates: Astronauts begin 10-day mission to the moon

ORLANDO, Fla. - NASA's highly-anticipated Artemis II mission has launched a crew of four astronauts on a historic 10-day trip around the moon and back.

The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center around 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday.

Following the successful launch, the Artemis II mission is officially underway.

The crew—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will now begin the next part of their journey. They won't land on the moon during the mission, but they will collect data about the moon that will help with future missions. 

Follow along for mission updates on Artemis II, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the Orion spacecraft and the crew. Watch live-streaming coverage in the video player above.

Astronauts getting rest, preparing for test

The Artemis II crew are now in Earth orbit and getting some much-needed rest aboard the Orion spacecraft.

NASA said the astronauts will wake up at 7 a.m. on Thursday to prepare for a perigee raise burn.

"This burn will lift the lowest point of Orion's orbit around Earth. Together with the apogee raise burn completed earlier, these burns will shape the spacecraft's initial orbit and prepare it for later translunar operations," NASA said.

After completing the burn, the crew will go back to sleep around 9:40 a.m.