Fifty-Three Years Is a Long Time to Wait
The last time humans saw the Moon up close, Richard Nixon was president, a gallon of gas cost 36 cents, and the internet was a research project connecting four universities. Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. Nobody has been back since. Today, that changes. NASA's Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch at 6:24 PM ET from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Four astronauts — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will ride the Space Launch System rocket into orbit, loop around the Moon, and return to Earth over the course of 10 days [1]. Weather forecasts show 80% favorable odds for launch. The countdown is underway. And if everything goes according to plan, humanity will have crewed lunar explorers in space before dinner time on the East Coast [1][2].
Who's on Board — and Why It Matters





