NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Wednesday morning, Nov. 16, 2022, as seen from Harbor town Marina on Merritt Island, Fla. The moon is visible in the sky. (Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP)
NASA's Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA's new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard Wednesday, bringing the U.S. a big step closer to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. This launch is the first flight test of the Artemis program. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. This launch is the first flight test of the Artemis program. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. This launch is the first flight test of the Artemis program. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. This launch is the first flight test of the Artemis program. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. This launch is the first flight test of the Artemis program. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. This launch is the first flight test of the Artemis program. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
NASA's new moon rocket sits on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, hours before a planned liftoff in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s new moon rocket has blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard.
Wednesday’s Florida launch brings the U.S. a big step closer to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago.
If all goes well with the three-week flight, the crew capsule will be propelled into a wide orbit around the moon, before returning to Earth with a Pacific splashdown in December.
NASA hopes to send four astronauts around the moon on the next flight, in 2024, and land humans there as early as 2025.
