As Artemis II rumbled to life on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, about 170 community members gathered more than 1,000 miles away to mark the start of the momentous mission carrying a crew of four astronauts farther than humans have ever been before.
The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord treated the launch as a celebration of “all things space,” according to Executive Director Melissa Edwards.
The launch streaming party is the second in a series of space-focused events the museum is hosting this year. In May, they will honor one of their namesakes, Alan Shepard, and the 65th anniversary of his first flight into space, and in mid-September, the museum will host Aerospace Fest.
The museum was registered with NASA as a virtual watch party host, and Edwards said the impressive turnout made for “an amazing night” last Wednesday.
The Artemis II spaceship was expected to return to Earth with a splashdown off the San Diego coast on Friday, wrapping up the nearly 10-day test flight.
