{"id":579400,"date":"2026-04-01T22:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T22:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/579400\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T22:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T22:10:10","slug":"nasa-readies-to-launch-astronauts-on-first-lunar-trip-in-half-a-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/579400\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA readies to launch astronauts on first lunar trip in half a century"},"content":{"rendered":"

The rocket is fuelled, the astronauts are suited up and the final touches are being put on NASA’s historic rocket launch to send humans back to the moon.<\/p>\n

Crowds have gathered at Florida’s Space View Park where the Artemis II is set to take off at 9.24am AEDT.<\/p>\n

Earlier today, NASA fuelled its moon rocket. Tensions were high as hydrogen fuel started flowing into the rocket hours ahead of the planned launch.<\/p>\n

Dangerous hydrogen leaks erupted during a countdown test earlier this year, forcing a lengthy flight delay.<\/p>\n

\"NASA'sNASA began fuelling its moon rocket on Wednesday for humanity’s first lunar trip in more than half a century, aiming for an evening lift-off with four astronauts. (AP Photo\/Chris O’Meara)<\/p>\n

But no significant leaks occurred by the time Wednesday’s fuelling wrapped up.<\/p>\n

The launch team loaded more than 2.6 million litres of fuel into the 32-story Space Launch System rocket on the pad, setting the stage for the Artemis II crew to board.<\/p>\n

“It is time to fly,” commander Reid Wiseman said on the eve of launch via X.<\/p>\n

Three Americans and one Canadian will fly around the moon without stopping or even orbiting \u2013 then head straight back for a Pacific splashdown.<\/p>\n

They will set a new distance record for the farthest humans have travelled from Earth as they zoom some 6,400 kilometres beyond the moon and then hang a U-turn.<\/p>\n

Astronauts last flew to the moon during Apollo 17 in 1972.<\/p>\n

\"NASANASA astronauts (L-R) Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander; Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot; Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 30, 2026. (Bill Ingalls\/NASA)<\/p>\n

Artemis II is the opening shot of NASA’s grand plans for a permanent moon base. The space program is aiming for a moon landing near the lunar south pole in 2028.<\/p>\n

“The next era of exploration begins,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted on X.<\/p>\n

Best wishes already have started to pour in, including from King Charles III to Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.<\/p>\n

\"NASA'sPhotographers set up remote cameras near NASA’s Artermis II moon rocket on Launch Pad 39-B just before sunrise at the Kennedy Space Centre Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Florida (AP Photo\/Chris O’Meara)<\/p>\n

Hansen will become the first non-US citizen to launch to the moon. The crew also includes Christina Koch and Victor Glover, the first woman and first Black astronaut, respectively, destined for the moon.<\/p>\n

“In this historic moment, you stand as a bridge between nations and generations,” the King wrote in a letter to Hansen, “and I commend you for your courage, discipline and vision that have brought you to this threshold”.<\/p>\n

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rocket is fuelled, the astronauts are suited up and the final touches are being put on NASA’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-579400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}