India, April 1 -- NASA is set to launch four astronauts as early as Wednesday evening on a 10-day flight around the moon, marking the most ambitious U.S. space mission in decades and a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface before China's first crewed landing. The Artemis II mission is scheduled for liftoff at 6:24 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 2, 2026, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

If successful, the giant Space Launch System rocket will send humans near the moon for the first time in more than half a century, marking an important milestone for the U.S. space program. NASA mission managers on Monday polled "go" to launch the towering, 322-foot (98 m) rocket topped with the astronauts' Orion crew capsule.

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