JC Marquez Jr 
UNITED STATES – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) states it is returning to the moon for the first time in over 50 years today since 1972 with a 10-day manned-mission around and back dubbed “Artemis II.”
According to its website, the goal of Artemis II is to pave way for future astronauts to land on the south polar region of the moon to continue space exploration to other planetary bodies such as Mars.
Furthermore, the mission would help to conduct further lunar scientific investigations for future missions.
The advancement of Artemis II was propped by its predecessor, Artemis 1 as a test run for safe re-entry and spaceflight environment in November 2022.
The shuttle, dubbed Integrity, will be controlled by a four-person crew: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
The targeted launch time for takeoff is expected today at 6:24 p.m. EDT at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Visit NASA’s official website for live updates and its YouTube channel for livestreams.
For related news, watch MMJ Victor Ortega’s story on the UT System’s partnership with NASA.
