CALGARY — NASA is preparing to launch its first crewed mission to the moon in more than five decades.The Artemis II mission is scheduled for liftoff on April 1 at 6:24 p.m. EST from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The 10-day mission marks a major milestone for space exploration and will send four astronauts on a journey around the moon — the first time humans have ventured beyond low-Earth orbit since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.Among the crew is Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who is set to become the first Canadian (and the first non-American) to travel beyond low-Earth orbit.If the launch proceeds as scheduled, Hansen will serve as a mission specialist alongside NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch.Artemis II will not land on the moon but instead will fly a “free-return” trajectory, swinging around the moon before returning to Earth and landing in the Pacific Ocean..The mission is designed to be a test run ahead of planned future lunar landings, and NASA has said the mission is ultimately the first step in a larger program that goes far beyond reaching the moon.The agency has outlined ambitions for annual lunar landings beginning in 2028 and the construction of a moon base by 2030.NASA reports that in the final days before liftoff, teams at Kennedy Space Center are conducting extensive preparations, with engineers powering up flight systems, verifying communications, and preparing the rocket’s cryogenic fuelling process, which involves loading massive quantities of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen.Meanwhile, the astronauts remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, undergoing medical checks and maintaining carefully controlled sleep and nutrition schedules to ensure peak readiness for launch.Weather officials with the US Space Force’s Launch Delta 45 and NASA are continuing to closely monitor weather conditions ahead of liftoff, with the weather forecast for launch day showing an 80% chance of favourable weather. The primary concerns are cloud coverage and the possibility of high winds in the area.Broadcast coverage for the launch begins on April 1 at 7:45 a.m. EST on NASA’s YouTube channel. Full coverage begins at 12:50 p.m. on NASA+.
