NASA blasted off the world’s most powerful rocket early Wednesday morning, working through earlier setbacks to start a mission designed to reignite the agency’s lunar-exploration ambitions.⁠ ⁠ NASA’s Space Launch System rocket lifted off from a pad at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at roughly 1:47 a.m. ET. On top of the rocket was Orion, a spacecraft meant to travel to lunar orbit and then return to Earth. No astronauts were on board for the practice mission. ⁠ ⁠ The flight is a critical jumping-off point for Artemis, NASA’s multiyear program to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 and sets the stage for broader agency space-exploration efforts.⁠ ⁠ If successful, Artemis I, as this mission is called, will help set up a crewed mission to the moon. It is slated to deliver the first woman and first person of color to the moon as early as 2025.⁠ ⁠ Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ Visuals: NASA TV, Jim Watson/AFP/Getty