NASA Astronauts Reach Safe Orbit in Historic Moon Mission

NASA’s crew of astronauts launched to space and reached a stable orbit, kicking off a landmark journey that will take them closer to the lunar surface than anyone has been in more than 50 years.

The initial phase of the 10-day mission to lap the moon, a multibillion-dollar feat about a decade in the making, clears a major hurdle for NASA and its legacy aerospace contractors as the agency works to establish a base on the lunar surface and ultimately venture to Mars.