Four astronauts are set to embark Wednesday on the first crewed journey around the Moon since 1972, an odyssey that aims to launch the US into a new era of space exploration.
The NASA mission dubbed Artemis 2 has been years in the making after facing repeated setbacks and massive cost overruns, but is finally scheduled to take off from Florida as early as 6:24 pm (22:24 GMT).
Under bright Florida sunshine, the rocket’s giant tanks started filling with liquid hydrogen and oxygen at 8:35 am.
The team featuring Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen will set forth on the approximately 10-day mission and hurtle around Earth’s nearest celestial neighbour without landing – much like Apollo 8 did in 1968.
The journey marks a series of historic accomplishments: it will send the first person of color, the first woman and the first non-American on a lunar mission.
It is also the inaugural crewed flight of NASA’s new lunar rocket, dubbed SLS.
The mammoth orange-and-white rocket is designed to allow the United States to repeatedly return to the Moon, with the goal of establishing a permanent base that will offer a platform for further exploration.
“It’s a stepping stone to Mars, where we might have the most likelihood of finding evidence of past life, but it’s also a Rosetta Stone for how other solar systems form,” Koch told reporters on the weekend.
The mission was originally due to take off as early as February.
But repeated setbacks stalled the mission and even necessitated rolling the rocket back to its hangar for analysis and repairs.
As of Tuesday afternoon, NASA officials voiced confidence that engineering operations and final preparations were proceeding smoothly.
If Wednesday’s launch is canceled or delayed, there are more liftoff opportunities through Monday, although weather later in the week was looking slightly less favorable.
