NASA Begins Crewed Moon Mission in Race with China

The Kabul Tribune (KT) - NASA has launched four astronauts from Florida on the Artemis II mission, marking a major step toward returning humans to the Moon, Reuters reported.

The Space Launch System lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, sending a crew of three U.S. astronauts and one Canadian into Earth orbit. The mission is part of a broader effort by the United States to reestablish a human presence on the lunar surface, amid growing competition with China.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman described the launch as the beginning of future missions that could include building a long-term base on the Moon.

If successful, the crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—will travel around the Moon and return to Earth in about 10 days, testing the spacecraft and venturing deeper into space than humans have in decades.

Artemis II is the first crewed test flight in NASA’s Artemis program, a successor to the Apollo program, and the first mission in more than 50 years to send astronauts near the Moon.

The mission serves as preparation for future lunar landings, with NASA aiming to send astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole by 2028, ahead of China’s planned crewed mission later in the decade.

The last time humans walked on the Moon was in 1972 during the final Apollo mission.