On April 1st, 2026 NASA’s Artemis II rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Complex’s launch pad 39B, sending four brave astronauts farther than any humans had ever gone into space. This 10-day mission would go on to set several records for deep space flight.
Documentary filmmaker and photographer K Enagonio traveled down to the Space Coast to capture liftoff of the Artemis II rocket, that would bring humans back into deep space, and then went to Houston to cover the entire mission from NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center.
You can watch K’s behind the scenes video from this incredible experience here:
Artemis II Liftoff
A major part of documenting historic moments, especially in space flight, that is often not spoken about, is the discomfort that comes with it. Capturing Artemis II’s liftoff took more than just setting up a tripod and getting the camera settings right. For this operation I ended up sleeping on the concrete the night before launch day to ensure that I would have a prime vantage point.
Watching the sunrise over the Space Coast on the morning of April 1st, 2026 will go down as one of the most magical sunrises I’ve ever witnessed and had the pleasure of capturing. The way the sun rose just behind SLS and Orion felt like a good omen for the crew and teams behind this historic mission.
The crowds began to form in Titusville around 10AM and steadily grew throughout the day. I had the opportunity to speak with families, young kids, and a few other photographers about their excitement for this launch. So many of them had never seen a launch before and I think it’s so special that a moon mission would be their first. Artemis II has truly brought so many new space enthusiasts into the fold and that excites me for future generations.
I never thought I’d get to see a moon mission in my lifetime. After the Columbia and Challenger disasters I thought the world had all but given up on going to deep space, save a few crazy thinkers at SpaceX and Blue Origin, which brings me to my shot setup.
After speaking with Brandon Wynn of Interstellar Gateway, I decided that the most important angle to shoot this launch from wasn’t from the water, but from Space View Park. This park features monuments honouring NASA’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs.
The park has a mostly unobscured view of NASA’s 39B launch pad, save a few trees, which, for me, was ideal. I didn’t want anyone to be blocking my shot so I decided to setup behind the fence of the water feature, near Washington Avenue, and away from the beach front concrete strip that I had slept on. I knew that everyone’s shots from that concrete strip would look very similar and the lack of foreground was, frankly, dull, to me.
The crowds continued to grow as the clocked ticked closer to the scheduled launch time of 6:24 PM EDT, with a 120 minute window of opportunity. The crowd size, across the space coast, was estimated to be around 346,000 visitors, roughly the equivalent to the population of Anaheim, California!
I think my favorite part of covering this historic event was seeing the enthusiasm of the kids that were their with their families to see Artemis II launch. I never got to see a launch as a kid and I’m so grateful that I made documenting spaceflight events a priority in my adulthood. It’s incredible to see what humans from across the globe can do if they come together for a common goal. Seeing these kids gave me so much hope for the future of humanity.
At 6:35 PM EDT Artemis II successfully launched from Launch Complex 39B. I waited with baited breath for the cheers in the distance, fingers crossed and camera rolling for a smooth liftoff, and then, about fifteen seconds after 6:35 PM I caught my first glimpse of Artemis II and that beautiful engine glow that I know so well.
There are rocket photos that are beautiful, but then there are rocket photos that tell stories. I believe that this is one of those images that will captures not only the beauty of a launch, but also tells the human story of spaceflight and exploration.
The teams and astronauts that came before the Artemis II crew paved the way, put in the blood, sweat, tears, and some even paid the ultimate price, for humans to get one step closer to the stars. I have a hard time keeping my tears at bay when I see launches, but this one was one of the most impactful to me. The gravity of this mission weighed on every single person involved and my empathetic heart could feel that weight when I laid eyes on this rocket.
Forgive my profanity in the video below, but this was a magical moment and sometimes all you can really do is swear, because it’s hard to comprehend what you’re witnessing.
Johnson Space Center
After the launch I packed my bags and made my way down to Houston to spend the next week and a half covering the entire Artemis II mission at Johnson Space Center, the home of the iconic Mission Control, Orion Flight Simulator, and the Lunar Science Team operations.
NASA opened JSC up for media outlets to cover the entire Artemis II mission, which, on it’s own is incredible, but they also gave us unprecedented access to several of the testing facilities and set us up with interview opportunities to speak to members of some of the experts involved with the Artemis II mission.
I interviewed Chief Exploration Scientist, Jacob E Bleacer, about the Avatar study, which is a research initiative shaping the future of human space exploration. In this interview we dive into how scientists are preparing astronauts for long-duration missions beyond Earth, including the Moon and eventually Mars. From understanding human performance in extreme environments to developing technologies that allow astronauts to operate remotely and autonomously, the Avatar Study is redefining what’s possible in spaceflight.
I also had the opportunity to ask about the ambient noise and pilot the Orion simulator that the astronauts, engineers, and flight controllers use to train and practice for various scenarios during Artemis missions to the moon! I am proud to say that I did not crash into the moon during my simulation run, which has become my entire personality and something that I will be adding to my resume moving forward.
Here’s the full video of my simulation run in the Orion training sim:
Mission Control
One of the most incredible experiences I had at JSC was getting to step foot into the historic Mission Control Center and listen in on one of the Artemis II crew wake up calls.
As a curious photographer, I couldn’t help myself when it came to needing to take photos of some of the fun Artemis II themed snacks that they had in Mission Control, including some Green = Go Grapes, the custom Artemis II donuts from Krispy Kreme, and some space grade snacks from Astreas.
Using my limited knowledge of silent communication, I got the attention of one of the Mission Control crew members, who then gave us a bit of an unboxing of the Krispy Kreme donut box.
Artemis II Mission Coverage
Over the course of the mission around the moon I got to tap into a NASA comms setup with a field recorder that I brought with me. It was so cool getting to see this in person and getting to hear the clearest audio of NASA mission comms as well as the Artemis II crew as they went further and further from our home planet.
On April 6th the Artemis II crew broke the record, previously held by the Apollo astronauts, by surpassing the farthest distance ever traveled by humans, from Earth. Once they passed this mark, The Artemis II crew asked two add two previously unnamed craters they had observed into the history books. The first crater they named Integrity, after the Artemis II crew’s Orion spacecraft, whose call sign for the mission was Integrity. The second crater was proposed as Carroll, in honour of Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman, in an emotional tribute that brought the entire crew to tears during the live broadcast.
While the act of naming a crater may seem symbolic, it reflects something much deeper; humanity’s enduring instinct to explore, document, and build a connection with new frontiers. Just as early explorers charted coastlines and mountain ranges on Earth, today’s astronauts are beginning to leave a human imprint on the Moon, not through footprints alone, but through shared knowledge, scientific observation, and the language that will help future generations navigate and understand our nearest celestial neighbor.
Perhaps the most frightening point of the Artemis II mission was the moment that Orion entered lunar occultation. As Orion slipped behind the Moon, the crew entered a period known as Loss of Signal (LOS), when the lunar body itself blocked all communications with Earth. For several minutes, mission controlers could only wait as the spacecraft traveled across the Moon’s hidden far side before Acquisition of Signal (AOS) confirmed the crew had safely emerged and re-established contact. Those 45 minutes felt like an eternity and hearing the crackle of Orion reconnecting with Mission Control brought with it the biggest collective sigh of relief back on Earth.
Artemis II Returns to Earth
I had the opportunity to view splashdown with a friend who works for a NASA affiliate, but professional coverage was not permitted. I wish I could describe the energy among the NASA staff and their families as we gathered in the newly established Lunar Receiving Park at Johnson Space Center. This site was built to commemorate the historic Building 37, which originally served as the quarantine and sample analysis laboratory for the Apollo Moon missions. The park features the original High Bay doors through which the Apollo astronauts exited, the salvaged “37” signage, and historical markers detailing the initial examination of lunar rocks.
Getting to watch the Artemis II crew splash down from this park felt more than significant. RISE, the Artemis II mascot, even made an appearance!
There definitely wasn’t a dry eye in the park that evening as the crew safely re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and splashed down off of the coast of San Diego, California.
While Artemis II made history by carrying humans farther from Earth than ever before, its return was less about breaking speed records and more about proving the Orion spacecraft and its systems could safely bring a crew home from deep space. The mission successful high-speed re-entry and textbook splashdown marked a critical milestone in NASA’s path toward sustained human exploration of the Moon and, eventually, Mars.
Welcome Home Event
My final assignment in Houston was covering a very special welcome home event held for the Artemis II crew at Johnson Space Center. This event was extremely limited to the media and I am grateful that I was able to cover it. Getting to close the Artemis II chapter with this event felt like a major milestone as a journalist and documentary filmmaker. I truly felt like I was in a movie every time one of the A2 crew members spoke.
I’d like to thank the NASA Public Affairs team for facilitating all of the once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I got to be a part of at Johnson Space Center, the Interstellar Gateway team for the opportunity to capture this historic event, and my friends in the aerospace community for supporting my journey as a storyteller.