NASA is planning an ambitious new mission that could send astronauts around the Moon sooner than expected.
As per the recent reports, NASA is preparing to send four astronauts on a ten-day journey orbiting the Moon as early as February, ahead of the originally planned date at the end of April.
This mission, called Artemis II, is the second launch in NASA’s Artemis program which aims to eventually land astronauts on the Moon for a long-term presence there.
It has been 50 years since a human space mission, with the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 being the last.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the Artemis Launch Director said the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the Artemis mission is almost ready for the launch.
Meanwhile, Lakiesha Hawkins, Nasa's acting deputy associate administrator said "the launch window could open as early as the fifth of February, but we want to emphasize that safety is our top priority."
The first Artemis mission, which took place in November 2022, lasted 25 days and involved sending a spacecraft without any astronauts onboard.
The spacecraft successfully traveled around the Moon and safely returned through Earth atmosphere.
The four astronauts who will be going on a mission include NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch as well as Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
Jeff Radigan, the lead flight director for Artemis II, said the astronauts will travel farther into space than anyone before.
