NASA’s Return to the Moon Starts With Critical Test Flight
Artemis I needs to succeed before humans attempt to head back to the lunar surface as early as 2025.
NASA's Artemis I Moon rocket at Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida
Photographer: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty ImagesNASA is about to take the first step on its journey to return people to the moon by the end of the decade. If all goes well, a massive uncrewed rocket will lift off from Kennedy Space Center on Monday morning, then circle the moon in an orbit that will take it deep into space before it returns to Earth 42 days later.
Engineers worked in the early hours to check a leak affecting the hydrogen tanking process, which had already been delayed by bad weather. Launch controllers concluded that the hydrogen was being loaded at an acceptable rate and resumed the process, monitoring closely.