Artemis II took off for the Moon on Wednesday, generating a lot of excitement.
The towering rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center at 6:24 p.m. EDT, carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on the 10-day Artemis II test flight. The mission marks the first time a crew has flown aboard NASA’s new moon rocket and Orion spacecraft.
The flight comes more than 50 years after NASA’s Apollo 17 crew left the lunar surface in December 1972. Artemis II will not land on the moon but instead follow a free-return trajectory that loops around it, testing the Orion capsule’s life-support systems and heat shield in preparation for future landings.
My colleague Becca Lower covered the launch, and you can check that out. They also had a bit of a toilet issue, as our Susie Moore noted in her Morning Minute.
READ MORE: Breaking: NASA’s Artemis II Rocket Blasts Off for Inspiring Moonshot
Morning Minute: ‘Houston, We Have a Problem…’
They’re already sending back some amazing pictures.
CORE STAGE SEPARATION. WE ARE GOING TO THE MOON. pic.twitter.com/GfbeZV0Z3I
— Jack Kuhr (@JackKuhr) April 1, 2026
But one boy’s reaction to a dumb question from CNN set the tenor of the day, with how enthusiastic he was about this effort.
🚨 BOOM! This kid just dropped STRAIGHT FIRE on CNN ahead of Artemis II launch
“Why do you want to be here?”
KID: “We’re going back to the FRICKIN’ MOON, that’s why!” 🔥🇺🇸
History being made! pic.twitter.com/Ws5TyZP1U6
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 1, 2026
The boy attended Wednesday’s launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a GoPro camera strapped to his NASA cap, after traveling to witness the first human-crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years.
As he stood waiting, a CNN reporter approached him to ask: “Why do you want to be here? Why do you love space? Why do you love being a part of history?”
Well, that should be self-evident, shouldn’t it? CNN being CNN. But then the boy ended him; he didn’t hold back. “We’re going back to the frickin’ Moon, that’s why!” he exclaimed in reply.
It went immediately viral because of the boy’s clear joy to be there and his astonishment at the reporter not getting it. He’s every one of us of every age who’s fascinated by space and is so happy to see our commitment to making a trip to the Moon happen again.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman saw the clip and loved it. He said they were going to recognize the kid for his enthusiasm.
Oh this kid is definitely getting a bag of NASA gear.
— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) April 2, 2026
That’s pretty cool, and that’s a great thing to recognize the boy’s passion. I suspect that kid is going to have even more fun coming his way. People on X were suggesting other things to Isaacman that they thought would intrigue the boy, such as special tours.
Scott Kupor, the director of the United States Office of Personnel Management, said NASA’s communications department should hire the young man.
The next generation is in good hands. 🇺🇸🌘🚀 https://t.co/Abd6PgFR6P
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) April 1, 2026
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