After multiple delays, rocket repairs, and a restructuring of the program to return to the moon, the Artemis II mission is ready for liftoff. If there are no problems, four astronauts will inaugurate NASA’s new lunar campaign on Wednesday, more than 50 years after the Apollo era.
The Artemis II crew will not descend to the moon; that won’t happen until Artemis IV. But their capsule will fly 6,000 to 9,000 kilometers over the surface of the hidden side of Earth’s satellite, circle it, and make the return trip home. The main objective of the mission is to demonstrate that the space agency has the technological capability to send people