NASA's new lunar program is poised to break all kinds of human spaceflight records.
Named after the Greek goddess Artemis, twin sister of Apollo
In 2025, these astronauts will become the first humans to set foot on the lunar regolith
During this mission, the first long-term human presence on the Moon will be established by building a basecamp on the lunar surface.
But before all that happens, the space agency will have to test its equipment with a flight called Artemis 1, which will break its own record.
The 42-day Artemis 1 mission will test the Orion spacecraft, a capsule that will orbit the moon and one day carry human crew members there.
The uncrewed mission will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 8:33 a.m. on August 29, with backup dates on September 2 and September 5.
As Orion flies towards the Moon, a service module provided by the European Space Agency will fit in as needed.
The spacecraft will complete one and a half orbits of the Moon, where it will set the record for the furthest distance of any spacecraft. After that, it will fire its engines at the right moment to be helped by the Moon's gravity back towards Earth.
On October 10, the Orion spacecraft will come roaring back into its atmosphere - traveling at 6.8 miles per second, the fastest re-entry of any capsule ever built for humans.