It has been more than 50 years since astronauts last went to the moon
NEED TO KNOW
- Four astronauts have launched into space as part of the Artemis II
- The mission, which began Wednesday, is NASA’s first crewed flight test of its Space Launch System, a deep-space rocket, and the Orion spacecraft around the far side of the moon
- Experts hope Artemis II will lead to future moon landings and allow significant human time there, including exploring the moon’s south pole as soon as 2028
NASA's Artemis II mission is officially underway.
Four astronauts launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday, April 1, planning to venture around the far side of the moon and back in 10 days — a historic journey.
The rocket-borne Orion spacecraft blasted off on Wednesday night local time.
It has been more than 50 years since astronauts last went to the Earth's moon, as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Artemis is the first crewed flight test of both the Space Launch System, a deep-space rocket, and the Orion around the moon.
The goal is to “confirm all the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space,” according to NASA, ahead of what are future planned expeditions back to the moon.
There have been hurdles, however.
This mission, which follows Artemis I in 2022, was originally supposed to launch in February but was delayed due to hydrogen fuel leaks and issues with the upper-stage propellant pressurization system involving the rocket, CBS News reported.
The four astronauts taking part in Artemis II are commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Glover and Koch are the first woman and first Black astronauts to go around the moon.
"People are excited and ready to go on this — this first chapter on our way back to the moon since the 1970s. So we're very excited," said NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems senior test director Jeff Spaulding prior to the launch, according to Florida Today.
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Experts hope Artemis II and its related innovations will pave the way for humans to return to the surface of the moon again, decades since the Apollo missions — eventually allowing the U.S. to spend significant time there.
Artemis IV, the mission in which experts hope to explore the south pole of the moon for approximately one week, could launch as soon as 2028, though concerns persist about creating the technology for the necessary rockets and lunar landers.
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