Artemis II moon mission guide: How to watch, astronauts, history, launch time and more

NASA plans to launch four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon as early as Wednesday. Here's what to know about the Artemis II mission.

The countdown is on for the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission around the moon.

At 6:24 p.m. ET Wednesday, four astronauts are scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, beginning a 10-day journey that will take them looping around Earth and the moon.

The crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — will be the first people to launch toward the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, more than 50 years ago. They will not land on the lunar surface; rather, the mission is designed as a step toward a landing in 2028, and eventually, toward NASA’s goal of establishing a long-term presence on the moon.

“I think the nation and the world has been waiting a long time to do this again,” Wiseman said Friday after he and fellow crew members arrived at the Kennedy Space Center. “On behalf of myself, Victor, Christina, Jeremy, we are really pumped to go do this.”

From left, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen arrive at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday.Miguel J Rodriguez Carrillo / AFP - Getty ImagesThe crew will be the first people that NASA’s giant Space Launch System moon rocket and Orion capsule carry into space. The agency previously tested the technology with an uncrewed mission around the moon, Artemis I, in 2022.