'We dey go for all humanity' - emotional moment as Artemis II blast off enta space

Nasa Artemis II mission thunder away from Florida coast as e carry di four crew members dey go dia historic journey to circle di Moon.

Evriwia bin dey shake as brilliant white flame begin go up suddenly - afta sometime di white smoke cova di whole launch pad as di biggest rocket wey Nasa don eva build rise into di sky.

Nasa Space Launch System (SLS) majestically climb di sky - e bin dey slow at first, den e begin gada speed as e ride on two blinding pillars of flame, E roar wit increasing volume until di sound nearly make pipo deaf.

Pipo feel di sound for dia bodi as dem watch on wit excitement, three miles (4.8km) away from di launch pad.

Some pipo bin dey cheer as di rocket pass di moment of maximum danger - one minute and 10 seconds into di launch.

Dis na wia di pressure hit di rocket di hardest, and wen di engineers know say even any small structural weakness fit cause disaster.

No weakness, and SLS fly out ova di Atlantic like dose white angel wey pipo dey dream about. E leave white smoke behind as di sound start to reduce and di spacecraft disappear from view, e shrink to a single bright star as e begin chase di Moon.

One pesin tell di BBC say im dey feel emotional and anoda pesin say dem bin wan cry - no doubt na release of tension wey bin don build up ova di past few months wen Artemis II bin near di launch time, but e bin no happun sake of various reasons.

Even though Nasa employees bin dey laugh and clap - dis na di moment wey dem bin spend years dey work towards. Work still dey to do, but for now dem dey enjoy di moment of victory.

For di hour bifor take-off, issues bin dey wey bin threaten di launch.

Na about di launch abort system, wey dey make Nasa engineers to bring out di astronauts and blow up di rocket if e malfunction.

Dem stop di countdown clock for 10 minutes while engineers bin try to solve di problem. Dem work quickly, but na agonising wait to see if di launch go still go head.

Afta, dem hear di staccato rhythm of di calls by each engineer wey dey responsible for di rocket critical systems: "booster, go", "GNC, go", "range, go" – each reply, wit tiny release of tension and di build-up of expectation.

"Artemis II, na di launch director be dis," Charlie Blackwell-Thompson tok, di first woman to hold di position for Nasa.

"You dey go for launch," she tell di crew. "We dey go for all humanity", Commander Reid Wiseman respond.

Dem build di Kennedy Space Center to send astronauts to di Moon, but e neva happun since 1972 wen Apollo 17 bin blast off. Today, di centre don return to business, to do wetin dem bin make am for.

As di countdown clock start again, di atmosphere turn to electric anticipation.

Di four RS 25 engines and twin solid rocket boosters light up, e drive more dan 8.8 million pounds of thrust into di Florida evening sky.

"Godspeed Artemis II," Blackwell-Thompson tok, for anoda echo from di past.

Na di same words dem bin use for one launch from here for 1962 to send di first John Glenn, di first American to orbit di Earth, on im way.

Wetin Artemis crew go do for di Moon mission?

Artemis II crew wey get four pipo na Nasa commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch. Dem get second mission specialist, Jeremy Hansen from di Canada Space Agency, wey also dey on board.

Di mission dey involve di first crewed flight of Nasa gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and di Orion space capsule.

Once dem dey safe on top di orbit, di astronauts go test how di Orion handles dey work. Dis dey involve manually flying di capsule for di Earth orbit to dey practise how to steer and line up di spacecraft Moon landing for di future.

Dem now go comot to one place wey be thousands of kilometres beyond di Moon to check Orion life‑support, propulsion, power and navigation systems.

Di crew go also act as medical test subjects, dem go send di data and images back from deep inside space.

Dem go work inside small cabin wey no get plenti weight. Di Radiation level go also dey higher dan wetin dey on top di ISS, wey dey for low-earth orbit, but wey still dey safe.

Wen dem return to Earth, di astronauts go experience wetin be one bumpy return through di atmosphere and splashdown off di west coast of di US, for di Pacific.

Artemis II go land on top di Moon?

No. Di mission na to lay di ground for di lunar landing by astronauts for di Artemis IV mission, wey dem plan for 2028.

Ahead of dat, Nasa dey plan anoda crewed test mission, Artemis III, for 2027, to rehearse di Orion rendezvous and docking wit one or more lunar landers - wey dem also go try out di new spacesuits if dem dey ready in time.

Nasa don pick two rival commercial landers for Artemis: SpaceX Starship and one craft wey Jeff Bezos company Blue Origin design.

Wen di Artemis IV finally fly, di astronauts go now enta di Moon south pole.

Afta dis, dem go aim to land again later for 2028 wit di Artemis V mission, to build up dia capability for sustained human presence on top di Moon.

Nasa don pause work for dia planned Gateway station for lunar orbit. Further Artemis missions go focus to build Moon base and fly crew regularly to di surface, and more landing, new surface module and robotic rovers go follow.

Wen be di last Moon mission?

Di last crewed Moon mission na di Apollo 17, wey bin land for December 1972 wey bin return to Earth later dat month.

Overall 24 astronauts don travel to di Moon wey 12 of dem bin waka on top di surface - all dat happun for di Apollo programme. Out of di 24 wey go di Moon, only five still dey alive.

America bin first go di Moon for di 1960s, to beat di Soviet Union to show dia geopolitical and technological dominance. Once dem achieve dat goal, public interest and political enthusiasm bin rise, na so money for future Moonshots also bin shoot up.

Di Artemis programme grow out of one desire to return humans to di Moon, but dis time for long-term wey dem go build am around new technology and commercial partnerships.

Oda kontris dey plan to send astronauts to di Moon?

Several oda kontris get di dream to put dia pipo on di Moon for di 2030s.​

European astronauts dey set to join later Artemis missions and Japan also don secure dia seats.

China also bin dey build dia own craft, wey dey target to land first near di Moon south pole by 2030.

Russia dey continue to tok about flying cosmonauts to di surface to build small base sometime between about 2030 and 2035. Sake of sanctions, funding pressure and technical wahala, dis timetable fit dey optimistic.

India also dey interested to see dia own astronauts waka on top di Moon one day.

Afta di success of Chandrayaan 3 wey bin land near di lunar south pole for August 2023, India space agency dey set dia goal to send astronauts to di Moon by about 2040. Dis go be part of di push to move dia human spaceflight programme beyond low Earth orbit.

Additional reporting by Kevin Church and Emily Selvadurai.