Beyond the Kennedy Space Centre launch site, along the lagoon and beaches of Titusville and Cocoa Beach, bars are advertising “moonshots” and hotels are warning guests to expect long delays getting to and from viewing spots.
Local officials talk of a “historic influx” of tourists and an economic impact of around $160m (£121m), putting traffic plans in place for a night when the highway lights will compete with the glow of floodlit launch towers as well as camper van barbecues.
A mile or so from the pads where Artemis II will light up the sky, Brenda Mulberry, owner of Space Shirts, has been selling Nasa T-shirts and souvenirs for 40 years.
In her small shop on Merritt Island, racks of orange, blue and black T-shirts depict hand drawn rockets, mission patches and moonscapes, ready for the crowds who arrive on regular launch days. But this launch is different, she tells us. “We’ve wanted to go back to the Moon since the ’70s. People are excited. People are beyond excited,” she said.
Brenda says she has stocked up for the biggest surge of customers she has ever seen.
“I want to have the first T-shirt shop on the Moon,” she says. “Because if you’ve been there, you get the T-shirt, right?” she adds, laughing.