CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — It’s humanity’s first flight to the moon since 1972. In a throwback to Apollo, NASA’s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar fly-around. They’ll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back. No circling around the moon, no stopping for a moonwalk — just a quick out-and-back lasting less than 10 days.
NASA promises more boot prints in the gray lunar dust, but not before a couple practice missions. The upcoming test flight by Artemis astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen is the first step in settling the moon this time around. Here’s a snapshot of the Artemis II mission. The Artemis astronauts are a diverse and international crew. The moon is about to welcome its first woman, first person of color and first non-American.
