PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — For the first time in more than 50 years, astronauts are on their way to the moon, and the historic launch has deep ties to Maryland, sparking local excitement.
WATCH: 'Thrilling': Goddard Space Flight Center hosts watch party to celebrate the Artemis II launch
Baltimore native Reid Wiseman is the mission commander, and scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Prince George's County played a crucial role in making the flight possible.
"It’s really thrilling and exciting; it’s sort of like being a kid, getting a chance to be a part of that," Dr. Alex Young, heliophysicist at Goddard, said.
Young’s team played a significant role in clearing the way for the mission by monitoring the sun to ensure it is safe for the astronauts to travel around the moon and back.
"[Astronaut] Christina Koch, she was an engineer and worked here, and it’s really amazing because one of the things that’s exciting about working at NASA is that everything we do takes a team," Young said.
Which made Goddard the perfect place to be to watch the historic event, feeling the excitement and anticipation build in the moments before liftoff.
"One of the things we love about this area is that there’s always so much history happening here, so it’s just another piece of it," Janelle Rigler said. "We’ve been watching it all day, since what, 9:30 this morning.”
Her 12-year-old son, Caleb, loves everything that goes into missions like Artemis II.
"The people that go into building them, the engineering, the design, all of the things," Caleb Rigler said.
They got to see what astronauts eat in space and try on their gloves before heading to the auditorium for the countdown and the moment the rocket launched.
"It was so thrilling, it’s kind of hard to explain how it makes you feel to see that go up, just awesome," Ethelene Duster said.
Dr. Young says everything went perfectly and that this launch clears the way for what's next.
"The Artemis II program is going to be bringing a lot of excitement, technology, these are going to be the opportunities for the next generation of engineers," Young said. "The generations beyond me are going to be the ones to see these next great steps we're going to take."
That next generation includes Caleb Rigler and many other young aspiring scientists in the crowd.
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