NASA is preparing to launch its Artemis II mission, marking the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years. The mission will carry four astronauts around the moon using NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule.

The crew consists of NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Reid Wiseman, along with Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Hansen will become the first Canadian astronaut to travel to the moon as part of this joint U.S.-Canada mission.

The mission represents a significant milestone in NASA's broader Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface and establish a sustained presence there. The program is part of NASA's longer-term goals that include eventual missions to Mars.

Large crowds have gathered around Kennedy Space Center in Florida to witness the historic launch. The mission comes as space agencies prepare for what some view as a new era of lunar exploration, with multiple nations pursuing moon missions.

The Artemis program represents NASA's most ambitious human spaceflight initiative since the Apollo era, which last sent astronauts to lunar orbit in the early 1970s. The current mission will test systems and procedures needed for future lunar surface missions.