← Back to all diffs
NPR

NASA's Artemis II astronauts are hours away from moon launch. Watch it here

View original article →
+379 words added -460 words removed
NPR Science LISTEN & FOLLOW NPR App Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music iHeart Radio YouTube Music RSS link Sign up for the [TITLE] Newsletter Get perks with [Podcast Title]+ Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.
− By Amina Khan , Nell Greenfieldboyce Before taking his last steps on the moon, NASA astronaut Gene Cernan made sure to scratch his young daughter's initials into the lunar dust.
+ By Amina Khan , Nell Greenfieldboyce The SLS rocket carrying the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission to the moon thunders into the sky. Bill Ingalls/NASA hide caption Cheers erupted throughout the control room at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday as NASA's Artemis II mission to send four astronauts to the moon rocketed skyward.
− He had some parting thoughts for the rest of humanity, too.
Moments in history 50 years ago, U.S. astronauts landed on the moon.
− None have been back since "We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind," the Apollo 17 commander said before departing for Earth. That was December 1972.
+ None have been back since The 322-foot-tall, orange-and-white SLS rocket blasted off at 6:35 Eastern Daylight Time.
− Now, more than half a century later, NASA may be about to fulfill Cernan's wishes.
+ Perched atop it was the Orion capsule, the spacecraft set to take its crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — on a 230,000-mile trip around the moon and back.
− As early as Wednesday at 6:24 p.m., an Orion capsule seated atop a 322-foot rocket will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. If all goes according to plan, the capsule will carry four astronauts around the moon and back — sending humans the farthest they've ever been from our home planet. NASA's live stream of the launch began at 12:50 p.m.
+ "We have a beautiful moonrise — we're headed right at it," Wiseman, the mission commander, told the control room just minutes after launch.
− Science NASA is just days away from historic Artemis II moon launch The mission will be the first launch in the Artemis moon program to include a crew. It follows the uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022, which sent an empty Orion capsule on a three-week ride around the moon before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
+ Science NASA is just days away from historic Artemis II moon launch If successful, Artemis II will mark the first time humans have returned to the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972 — and the first time that a woman, a person of color, and a non-American have made the journey.
− This time, the Artemis II astronauts will first orbit Earth to check out key systems on the spacecraft, and then trace a figure-eight path around our lunar neighbor and back.
+ Space NASA redirects Artemis moon mission program, postponing a planned astronaut landing The crew members will first orbit Earth so that they can check out key systems on their spacecraft, including life support, communication, and navigation.
− The entire journey is expected to take just under 10 days.
+ Then they'll fire their vehicle's propulsion system to send themselves on a looping figure-eight path around the moon and back, ending with a splashdown into the Pacific Ocean.
− Space NASA redirects Artemis moon mission program, postponing a planned astronaut landing This mission is a crucial step toward NASA's goal of once again setting foot on lunar soil, and eventually establishing a permanent lunar presence — including a moon base — with the help of international partners.
+ It will take several days to get out to the moon, and the entire mission is expected to last about ten days.
− At a press briefing on Tuesday, Mark Burger, launch weather officer with the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron, said there was an 80% chance of favorable conditions for launch day, though they were keeping a close eye on the weather.
+ While Artemis II will not touch down on the lunar surface, the mission is a key step towards an eventual moon landing that will support NASA's goal of establishing a permanent lunar presence, including a moon base, with the help of international partners.
− Jeff Spaulding, senior NASA test director, is a veteran of many launches.
+ The next mission in the Artemis program, Artemis III, is slated to remain nearby in Earth's orbit and practice rendezvousing with the program's lunar landing system.
− He said that for his part, the reality that humans would soon be flying to the moon would probably set in during the final minute before ignition.
+ Artemis IV and V would then take astronauts to the moon's surface, using lunar landers designed and developed by commercial space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.
− "That's when it really starts to hit home that, you know, we really got a shot at making it today," Spaulding said at the briefing. "And I know a lot of people are thinking the same thing, because you can hear a pin drop in that firing room as you count from 10 down to T-zero." "After that, though," he said with a smile, "it may get a little bit noisier." Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor
+ Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor