The Artemis II crewed lunar mission lifts off from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026. Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP
Houston: NASA gave the Artemis astronauts the green light on Thursday to head for the Moon and carry out the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.
The four astronauts currently circling Earth will fire up the engine of the Orion capsule at 7:49 pm Eastern Time (2349 GMT) to send it on a trajectory towards the Moon, NASA said.