NASA Preps First Moon Mission With Crew Since 1972

For the first time since 1972, humans are heading back toward the moon.

NASA is rolling out its massive Space Launch System rocket tomorrow morning, the next step toward launching four astronauts on a journey around the moon in February. The Artemis 2 crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, plus Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The rocket will take about eight to ten hours to travel the four miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once there, teams will run a full fueling test on February 2nd to make sure everything works as planned.

If that test goes smoothly, the first launch window opens February 6th. The crew won't land on the moon during this mission. Instead, they'll loop around it on a ten-day journey that will take them farther from Earth than any humans have ever traveled.

The mission tests critical systems aboard the Orion spacecraft to prove it can safely sustain astronauts in deep space. They'll observe the far side of the moon and gather data that will pave the way for Artemis 3, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2027 or 2028.

Getting ready for a February launch means nearly everything has to go perfectly. During the first Artemis mission in 2022, fueling issues and equipment problems delayed the uncrewed test flight by six months.

This time, mission managers say they're being careful not to rush. "We're going to do our job to be ready to go fly," said John Honeycutt, the mission management team chair. "I'm not going to tell the agency that I'm ready to go fly until I think we're ready to go fly."

If February doesn't work out, backup launch windows open in March and April. NASA is coordinating Artemis 2 preparations alongside launching a separate crew to the International Space Station on February 15th.

Why This Inspires

This mission represents more than just a return to the moon. It marks a new era of space exploration built on decades of lessons learned from the Apollo program.

The Artemis 2 crew is also historic in its diversity. Christina Koch will be the first woman to fly around the moon, Victor Glover will be the first person of color to do so, and Jeremy Hansen will be the first Canadian.

Their journey will inspire a new generation to look up at the night sky and dream big. After 50 years, we're finally going back to explore what lies beyond our home planet.

The mission proves that humanity's spirit of exploration is very much alive and reaching for the stars.