NASA is preparing to launch Artemis 2 on April 1, marking the first crewed mission to the moon since the Apollo era ended over five decades ago. The mission represents a critical step in NASA's broader Artemis program aimed at returning humans to lunar orbit and eventually the lunar surface.
The Artemis 2 mission will carry astronauts around the moon in a multi-day journey, testing the Orion spacecraft's life support systems and flight capabilities with crew aboard. This follows the successful uncrewed Artemis 1 test flight that demonstrated the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule's basic functionality.