The countdown is underway for Artemis II, as NASA prepares to send astronauts on a mission around the Moon.
The 32-storey Space Launch System rocket is scheduled to lift off from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, carrying four astronauts on a 10-day journey that will conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
NASA’s chief flight director said mission control teams and the crew are fully prepared for launch.
Artemis II follows the successful Artemis I mission, which orbited the Moon in November 2022 without astronauts. This time, a crew will be on board, although a lunar landing is not planned until the future Artemis III mission.
NASA ultimately aims to use the Artemis programme to establish a base on the Moon and pave the way for future human missions to Mars.
The launch had been delayed after a liquid hydrogen leak was detected during a practice run in February.
Standing at 98 metres tall, the SLS rocket is comparable in height to Elizabeth Tower, home to Big Ben. No humans have landed on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The Artemis II crew includes Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.
via Sky News
