US returning to moon with Wednesday launch

The Artemis II rocket will return America to the moon in a fly-by mission, set to launch Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center no earlier than 6:24 p.m. EST.

“We’re a nation of pioneers in the next great American frontier of space,” President Trump said in a tribute video. “We never completed, but now we start again.”

Four astronauts – three from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency – are the first humans to enter space aboard Artemis II and will return at 7 miles per second, according to NASA’s video. The mission is a test mission of the Orion capsule, NASA astronaut and Artemis II Mission Specialist Christiana Koch said in the video.

Canadian Jeremy Hansen is the second Artemis II Mission Specialist, and NASA astronaut Victor Glover serves as pilot of the Artemis II mission.

“Nothing but gratitude for the men and women of this great nation. It is time to fly,” Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman said in a post Tuesday.

The crew will carry a zero-gravity indicator that will float freely in Orion once the crew has reached space. The instrument doubles as a mascot called “Rise,” a full-moon plush “toy” donning an earth-patterned baseball cap, in imitation of the “Earthrise” photo from the Apollo 8 mission in 1986, according to a post on X.

Second grader Lucas Ye from California designed “Rise’s” appearance, while NASA manufactured the toy with certified space-grade fireproof materials to meet proper size and mass specifications.

“Rise” carries a small SD card that stores 5,647,889 names submitted from around the world as a part of a campaign, according to a video from the crew.

On Wednesday morning, NASA teams began fueling the Artemis II rocket, which holds 733,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. Americans can watch the mission live on NASA’s YouTube channel and other platforms, and one live stream will contain footage from the Orion capsule itself.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who hosted the four astronauts for the State of the Union in February, said he is praying for “the safety and success of the Artemis II crew.”

“Americans are watching proudly as our Golden Age reaches new heights,” he said in a post on X.