Four Astronauts Just Strapped Themselves to the Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built

For the first time in more than 50 years, humans are on their way to the Moon.

Four Astronauts Just Strapped Themselves to the Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built

Four astronauts are currently inside a capsule the size of an RV, hurtling away from Earth at 25,000 miles per hour. Their destination: the far side of the Moon. The Artemis II mission, which successfully lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, marks humanity's first return to deep space since the Apollo program ended in 1972. The crew—three Americans and one Canadian—won't land, but they will fly further from Earth than any human in history, looping around the Moon in a figure-eight trajectory before returning home.

The rocket that got them there, NASA's Space Launch System, is an absolute monster. Standing taller than the Statue of Liberty, it generates 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff—15% more powerful than the Saturn V rockets that sent the Apollo astronauts on their way. This mission is the final dress rehearsal before NASA attempts to land astronauts, including the first woman, on the lunar surface with Artemis III. For ten days, the crew will test the Orion spacecraft's life support, navigation, and communication systems in the harsh environment of deep space, ensuring everything is ready for a new generation of lunar explorers.

This isn't just a nostalgic trip back to the 1970s. The Artemis program aims to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, including a lunar base and a space station in lunar orbit called the Gateway. The goal is to learn how to live and work on another world, using the Moon as a stepping stone for the first human missions to Mars.

Gobble's Take: Your phone has more computing power than all of NASA did during the first Moon landing—imagine what we'll do this time.

SpaceX's New Starship Is Built Different, and It's About to Fly

Just as NASA returns to the Moon with its government-funded rocket, SpaceX is preparing the next generation of its own moonship. The company just test-fired the engines on "Starship Version 3," a newer, bigger, and more powerful version of the rocket designed to eventually take humans to Mars. The static fire test, where the engines are ignited while the rocket remains bolted to the ground, is one of the final hurdles before a landmark orbital test flight scheduled for May.

This third iteration of Starship is designed for rapid reusability, a core tenet of SpaceX's plan to dramatically lower the cost of spaceflight. While NASA's Space Launch System is a $4.1 billion single-use vehicle, every part of Starship is intended to fly again and again, much like a commercial airliner. The upcoming test flight will be the most ambitious yet, aiming to launch the upper stage into orbit and have it survive a fiery reentry before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

The first two test flights of Starship ended in spectacular, albeit planned, explosions. But for SpaceX, these were successful failures, providing crucial data to improve the design. With Version 3, the company believes it has addressed the flaws that led to the previous mishaps. If the May flight is successful, it will prove that a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket is not just possible, but imminent.

Gobble's Take: While NASA is taking a carefully planned road trip, SpaceX is building the interstate.

The Space Coast Is Now a Non-Stop Launch Party

The area around Cape Canaveral in Florida is starting to sound less like a beach town and more like a continuous fireworks display. In the coming days, both SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin are planning to launch rockets from the Cape, continuing a blistering pace of activity that has transformed the region. Just this week, SpaceX launched two separate groups of its Starlink internet satellites within 19 hours of each other.

This rapid-fire launch cadence is the new normal. So far in 2026, SpaceX has already launched over 1,000 of its Starlink satellites, a milestone that highlights the company's dominance in the launch industry. The sheer volume of flights is unprecedented. What used to be rare, nationally televised events are now almost weekly occurrences, with rockets frequently streaking across the Florida sky.

The competition is heating up as well. Blue Origin, which has been developing its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket for years, is finally expected to join the orbital launch party. The increased competition between SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other players like United Launch Alliance is driving down costs and increasing access to space for everything from commercial satellites to government and scientific missions.

Gobble's Take: Your next-day delivery is impressive, but SpaceX is launching a thousand satellites before you've finished your coffee.

Quick Hits

• Modern blue marble: The Artemis II crew has already sent back the first stunning, high-resolution images of the entire Earth from deep space
• Starlink's global reach: SpaceX's satellite internet service now has over 2 million subscribers across dozens of countries, connecting remote areas that previously had little to no internet access
• Private space stations rising: With the International Space Station nearing retirement, multiple companies are racing to build commercial replacements, with first modules launching within the next few years

In Case You Missed It

Yesterday's top stories:

• Christina Koch Becomes the First Woman to Leave Earth's Neighborhood
• SpaceX's Mars Rocket Just Passed Its Most Dangerous Test
• SpaceX Launched 1,000 Satellites This Year—and It's Only January
• Florida's Space Coast Sounds Like a War Zone (In the Best Way)