![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2026-04-ARTEMIS.jpg\"\/)
Photo provided by Hans Epp\u00a0<\/p>\nWhat started as a planned vacation turned into an unforgettable moment with history for two separate groups of southeast Manitobans, each witnessing \u2014 in their own way \u2014 the excitement surrounding NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local photographer seizes rare opportunity<\/p>\n
For hobby photographer Hans Epp, the experience began before the rocket ever left the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Epp was in\u00a0Titusville,\u00a0Florida,\u00a0ahead of a scheduled launch with a friend, hoping to catch a glimpse of the rocket on the launchpad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We were able\u00a0to\u00a0see the spacecraft from the shores of Titusville, but that puts you about\u00a018 kilometres\u00a0away,\u201d Epp says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wanting a closer look, the next day he visited the Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went on a bus tour that got us to a much closer area, about three\u00a0kilometers\u00a0away from the pad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Due to a launch delay caused by a hydrogen leak during pre-testing, the rocket remained on the pad, giving\u00a0Epp\u00a0the chance to photograph it up close \u2014 something he described as a highlight as an avid photographer with a passion for astrophotography.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an amazing sight to see,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photo provided by Hans Epp\u00a0<\/p>\n
While he\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0get to\u00a0witness\u00a0the launch in person this time, the experience built on a long-standing interest in space exploration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since\u00a0then,\u00a0he has been closely following the mission, particularly the images being sent back to Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among the most striking, he says, are new views of Earth from deep space.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were able to take a picture from the dark side of the Earth. You could\u00a0actually see\u00a0the atmosphere and how thin it is around the Earth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photo provided by Hans Epp\u00a0
\nA historic front row view\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the Warkentin family, the experience unfolded differently, with a front row view of the launch itself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Warkentin family (photo provided)<\/p>\n
Bruce and Anna Warkentin and their three children, Liam, Bree and Sara, travelled to Florida for spring break, not specifically for the launch, but quickly adjusted their plans when they realized the timing aligned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were super excited when we found out the rocket was launching while we were down there. We wanted to make sure we got to see it,\u201d Anna says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unable to secure tickets to the Kennedy Space Centre due to high demand, the family found a viewing spot about five miles away on a causeway near Cocoa Beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For 13-year-old Liam, the moment the rocket lifted off was both surprising and unforgettable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, it looked like there was a disc that was catching the sunlight and reflecting it off. It just kept getting brighter and taller.\u00a0Then I realized, oh wait, that\u2019s the rocket actually launching,\u201d Liam says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Sara, she says she was\u00a0relieved\u00a0she\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0on board, noting the intense pressure astronauts must experience during takeoff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photo provided<\/p>\n
Anna says the moment carried a deeper emotional weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was something about the fact that there were a Canadian and American astronauts unified together in this\u00a0task,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With\u00a0splashdown\u00a0scheduled for Friday evening, the mission continues to capture attention \u2014 and inspire those who were lucky enough to\u00a0witness\u00a0even a small part of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With files from Corny Rempel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What started as a planned vacation turned into an unforgettable moment with history for two separate groups of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":{"0":"post-598415","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}