NASA's Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch tomorrow evening (at 6:24 p.m. local time) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the first time humans will leave Earth's orbit since 1972 and bring them close to the moon. Four astronauts – NASA's Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen – will embark on a 10-day journey around the moon, though they will not land on it, instead traveling several thousand miles beyond it, performing a U-turn, and returning to Earth.

This mission represents the farthest humans have ever traveled in space, sending the crew approximately 406,000 km from Earth. During the flight, they will test critical life-support systems of the Orion capsule, crew interfaces, and communications, serving as a pivotal step in NASA's plans for a permanent moon base. The agency aims for a full-scale landing near the lunar south pole by 2028.

Weather conditions are currently forecasted to favor the launch, but if conditions worsen, NASA has until April 6 to attempt a retry. If a launch is not successful within that window, the next opportunity could be on April 30. Artemis II is noted as a significant event in space exploration, occurring before China's first crewed lunar landing, highlighting ongoing international competition in this domain.

Source: www.dw.com