Artemis Two: First Crewed Moon Mission in 50 Years

0:00It's April 1st. This is Durham News Today, AI-powered stories from your city. NASA just kicked off fueling its massive moon rocket, a Cape Canaveral for Artemis II, the first crew lunar trip in over 50 years. The 32-story space launch system needs more than 700,000 gallons of fuel before four astronauts climb aboard for an evening. Lift off on April 1st, 2026. Tensions ran high as hydrogen started pumping in. Remembering those scary leaks from an earlier test that pushed back the schedule big time, the team's working fast to get everything loaded on Launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. The crew features Commander Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Kristina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen from Canada. Wiseman called it Go Time on social media with perfect weather in the forecast. Best wishes rolled in from everywhere, even England's King Charles to Hansen, the first not-American heading moonward. This flight marks huge first. Koch is the first woman, Glover, the first black astronaut for the moon.

1:03They'll loop around without landing or orbiting, smashing records by flying 4,000 miles past the moon before splashing down in the Pacific. It's the kickoff to NASA's big Artemis push for a permanent moonbase and a South Pole landing by 2028 firing up the next wave. Of Space Exploration.