'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission

The Artemis II crew lifted off at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

After years of preparation from various parts of the agency, NASA has officially launched its historic Artemis II mission.

The crew of four, including commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover Jr., and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, is now climbing toward orbit.

About eight minutes after launch, the rocket's core stage engines will shut down and separate from the upper stage, and the spacecraft and the crew will be in space.

According to NASA, they'll be traveling about 4,000 miles farther than the Apollo 13 mission.

NASA has performed the final poll, with all teams giving a "go" for the Artemis II launch.

The agency has started the terminal count, which is the final 10-minute countdown before launch.

NASA's closeout crew has departed the launch pad after finishing its White Room procedures.

Currently, only the Artemis II astronauts -- Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover Jr. and Jeremy Hanse -- remain in the Orion spacecraft at the top of the SLS rocket, ready for launch.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

NASA teams are troubleshooting an issue with the temperature of one of the batteries on the Launch Abort System.

NASA is reporting that the temperature is out of range for one of the two batteries. The agency says it is not a constraint for launch currently, but it will be if the issue continues when the temperature is checked during the final countdown minutes.

"Engineers investigated a sensor on the launch abort system’s attitude control motor controller battery that showed a higher temperature than would be expected. It is believed to be an instrumentation issue and will not affect today’s launch," the agency said in a statement.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado