NASA hopes to launch Artemis 2 astronauts to moon next month
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NASA’s upcoming Artemis II flight will be the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years, but it will not land on the moon. Here’s why.
The crawler carrying the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft was built 60 years ago to haul NASA’s Saturn V rockets, then kept around for the Space Shuttle Program. Now, the vehicle is back to its original purpose of positioning Moon-bound rockets on their launch pads.
Depending on the timing, NASA could launch a fresh crew to the space station while four other astronauts are flying around the moon.
Four astronauts are about to become the first humans to venture near the moon in more than half a century since NASA's iconic Apollo era ended.