NASA’s Artemis 2 crewed spacecraft is going to the moon for first time in 50 years

Need to know

The NASA crew will not land on the moon but travel around it in a journey lasting ten days

1. The mission is called Artemis II and it is NASA’s first crewed mission under the Artemis program, the spacecraft will launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
2. This will be a crewed mission toward the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972
3. The launch is scheduled for April 1 however the exact timing will depend on weather conditions and final system checks
4. The crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen
5. The Orion spacecraft will perform a burn to propel itself toward the Moon, the mission will also use lunar gravity to ‘slingshot’ the spacecraft back toward Earth without landing. Orion will circle the Moon once, including a pass over the far side
6. According to reports, the mission will provide essential data on space radiation and lunar environments for future Mars exploration
7. Space enthusiasts won’t miss out as the entire mission will stream live on the NASA YouTube channel

READ THE FULL STORY HERE: NASA announces huge £16bn moon plans as Artemis 2 prepares for take-off in days