November 16, 2022, at 1:47 a.m. — NASA's Space Launch System rocket launches Artemis I toward the Moon from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The largest rocket ever built by NASA and more powerful than the Space Shuttle or Saturn V, the inaugural SLS rocket generated 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, sending an uncrewed Orion capsule to a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. Having spent 25.5 days in space, Orion reentered Earth’s atmosphere and safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022. A resounding success after years of technical and political delays, Artemis I will be followed by crewed missions in the coming years as the United States and partner nations aim to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.