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

The Artemis II crew has entered high Earth orbit about two hours after lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center.

The crew will spend about a day in orbit testing Orion's systems. If everything is operating properly, Orion will be instructed on Thursday to perform the translunar injection burn, which will send the crew and spacecraft along their path to the moon.

NASA said high Earth orbit extends "about 46,000 miles beyond Earth."

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Artemis II marked America's "grand return to the moon" during a Wednesday evening news conference.

Isaacman said NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover Jr. and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, "are safe. They're secure, and they're in great spirits."

"We will continue to monitor their health and status as we move into the next phase of the Artemis II mission," he continued. "You have our commitment to keep the public as informed as possible on this historic mission.

"We will hold our celebration until this crew is under parachutes and splashes down off the West Coast," Isaacman said.

Isaacman said about 51 minutes into the flight, during a planned handover between satellites, there was a temporary loss of communications with the ground team not able to receive data from the crew or spacecraft. However, he said communications have since been restored.

NASA's Artemis II mission launched on Wednesday evening, beginning the crew's 685,000-mile, 10-day journey to and from the moon.

The Orion spacecraft will loop astronauts around the moon and go farther into deep space than humans have ever traveled.

Here's a look at the launch in photos:

Orion's solar arrays are now fully deployed, powering the spacecraft as it continues its journey toward the moon.

In about an hour, the crew will be in high Earth orbit, and will remain there for about 24 hours to conduct systems checks.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado