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Image credit: Illustration: Lockheed Martin, graphic created in Canva Pro.
NASA is preparing to make space history by returning humans to the vicinity of the moon on the Artemis 2 mission, which launches today (April 1).
As the Orion spacecraft heads into space on its journey around the moon, astronomers plan to track it from Earth, and you can follow Live broadcast of the Virtual Telescope Project.
According to Gianluca MassiThe organization, founder and director of the Virtual Telescope Project, will attempt to observe Orion as soon as it is sighted over Italy, which, if successful, should be approximately 4 hours after the planned launch window. Weather permitting, the livestream is currently scheduled to begin at 10:45 AM ET (0245 GMT).
Orion spacecraft flies by the moon | Image credit: Lockheed Martin
Artemis 2 Launch is currently scheduled for April 1 at 6:24 PM ET (2224 GMT). The mission will be the first to send humans back around the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
you can Watch the launch live on Space.com and follow our latest actions Artemis 2 Live Blog.
Although the crew of Artemis 2 Won’t actually set foot on the moon On this mission, they will make history by traveling deeper into space than humans have ever gone before.
Currently, NASA estimates that weather is still 80% favorable for the two-hour launch window that begins at 6:24 PM ET (2224 GMT) on April 1. If the launch cannot go ahead, NASA will schedule another launch window before April 6.
The Artemis 2 mission is expected to last about 10 days, during which time the Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts thousands of miles beyond the moon.