From Launch to Splashdown: My Journey Covering NASA’s Historic Lunar Mission

For the past ten days, I have tracked every second of the Artemis II mission, a voyage that saw four astronauts travel farther into space than any humans have gone before as they circled the Moon and returned. The experience spanned from the initial liftoff to their close pass by the lunar surface and the tense final landing. Prior to their departure, the crew had assured us that astronauts are the most composed individuals on launch day. Unfortunately, that description certainly did not apply to me.

Standing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida beside my BBC News science colleagues, Alison Francis and Kevin Church, was an overwhelmingly visceral experience. As the countdown reached zero, my excitement became uncontainable. When the rocket ignited its massive boosters and engines, propelling it skyward, my reaction quickly went viral. The sensory overload was intense: the blinding white brilliance that holds your gaze, the deafening roar that seems to arrive seconds after the visual cue, and the physical force of the blast that reverberates through your entire body. Yet, above all else, it was difficult to comprehend that four people were strapped into the seats atop a 98-meter-tall rocket, destined for the Moon.

Once the crew achieved their first view of Earth from orbit, Victor Glover addressed the world, stating, "Planet Earth, you look beautiful." Following a burn of their spacecraft’s main engine, they bid farewell to our planet and commenced their journey of approximately 250,000 miles to the Moon.

As the astronauts adjusted to microgravity, live video feeds transmitted from inside their capsule revealed just how confined their environment is. They were living, working, eating, and sleeping in an area comparable to the size of a minibus. There was no privacy, either from one another or from the millions of viewers worldwide watching their every move. Significant focus was placed on their Universal Waste Management System, commonly referred to as the toilet. The $23 million toilet suffered from plumbing issues, leading to intimate details being shared during a media briefing regarding the status of the crew’s "number ones and number twos." To answer the question: the crew proceeded with "number twos," but for "number ones," they deployed collapsible contingency urine devices—essentially bags with funnels.

At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, we visited mission control, the operational heart of the mission. The team there monitored all spacecraft systems, from navigation to life support, with intense focus as data streamed in. This oversight was crucial because Artemis II was a test flight, marking the first time humans had flown on both the new rocket and the spacecraft. Such missions carry genuine risks. This reality was underscored during a conversation with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen for the 13 minutes presents: Artemis II podcast, while he was in quarantine prior to launch. He shared that he had discussed the possibility of not returning with his wife and three children. Similarly, Reid Wiseman had candid talks with his two daughters about the dangers. Widowed six years ago, Wiseman had raised his daughters as a single father, making this one of the mission's most poignant moments.

As the spacecraft approached its destination, with the Moon dominating the window view, new features emerged on the lunar surface. The crew named a crater, visible from Earth as a bright spot, after Reid’s late wife, Carroll. Moved to tears, the crew gathered to hug their commander and friend. Back in Houston, emotions ran high in mission control as well; not a single person in the NASA facility or the BBC team remained dry-eyed.

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-04-11 23:17:07 UTC