Baltimore County man blasts off with his Artemis II crew to the moon

A 50-year-old Baltimore County man led the Artemis II crew into space Wednesday evening on the first voyage to the moon in 53 years — before he was even born.

Reid Wiseman is the space flight’s commander and is leading three other astronauts on their journey: Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, who is with the Canadian Space Agency. The flight launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. after a minor delay.

A ball of flames and smoke followed the spacecraft as it hurtled into the sky. Crowds who watched the crew blast off in Florida cheered and whistled as the flight got farther from Earth. The crew’s voyage will continue for about 10 days. It will have enough time to reach the moon and return. There will be no moonwalks or full orbits for this mission.

The launch was delayed about 10 minutes by “an instrumentation issue,” according to The Associated Press.

Reid Wiseman’s 83-year-old father, Bill Wiseman, traveled from Maryland to Florida to watch the launch. Bill Wiseman was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in 2020, but he has been determined to stay alive so he could witness his son take off for the moon.

Now Bill Wiseman can say he did it.

The four astronauts, in bright orange spacesuits, walked out of the NASA building hours before their launch to board the spacecraft.

They clapped and smiled in front of the crowd before walking over to speak with their families on the sidelines.

Wiseman, who has two teenage daughters, made a heart with his hands while in front of his family.

“It’s a great day for us; it’s a great day for this team,” Wiseman said in front of the crowd.

Minutes before taking off, Wiseman told NASA HQ he was ready for “full send” with his teammates. The crew members went quiet as they sped into space. But soon after their leader piped up.

“We have a beautiful moonrise, and we’re headed right at it,” Wiseman said five minutes after launch.

Ahead of the blastoff, proud Marylanders wished the astronaut farewell and good luck. Baltimore County posted Wiseman’s yearbook photo from Dulaney High School, which had the caption, “FUTURE PLANS: Fly high.”

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks wished him a safe journey in a post, adding that he was “making Maryland proud on one of the most important missions of our time.”

This article has been updated.