Artemis II: NASA's first manned mission to the Moon in half a century to launch this week

Man is heading to the moon - again - after a break of more than 50 years. US space agency NASA is set to launch its first manned mission to the Moon in half a century this week - taking a crew deeper into space than anyone has gone before.

Four astronauts – three US and one Canadian – are due to blast off aboard a 322-foot rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Wednesday (April 1), if weather conditions hold and barring any last-minute hitches. The 10-day test flight will see the team fly around the Moon and back on a mammoth 685,000-mile journey.

During the so-called lunar flyby, the Orion spacecraft will travel around 4,700 miles beyond the far side of Earth’s natural satellite, setting a new record. While the astronauts will not touchdown on the Moon, the Artemis II mission paves the way for a future lunar landing within the next couple of years.

The UK is playing a part in the mission, with the Goonhilly Earth Station, near Helston, Cornwall, helping track the capsule on its epic celestial voyage.

Speaking at a news conference at Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre, NASA associate administrator, Amit Kshatriya, said: “As we enter the pre-launch phase, the teams are in a strong posture, and the mission remains on track.” He added: “The vehicle is ready. The system is ready. The crew is ready.”

He went on: “I have complete confidence in this team of the Nasa workforce. For everybody else, 53 years ago humanity left the Moon and did not return. Now we go back.”

Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, said the countdown to launch started at 4.44pm local time on Monday. She added: “It is an exciting time. It’s an exciting time for this team and our crew and really our nation and the world. All indications are right now we’re in excellent, excellent shape as we get into count.”

And NASA chief flight director, Emily Nelson, said: “Our teams in mission control and our crew members have been spent the last two years dedicated to training for this particular mission, developing all of the products associated with this flight, and they are ready to go. The opportunity is immense for us to finally get the opportunity to send our crew farther than anyone’s gone before.”

The mission previously had to be postponed by two months due to hydrogen fuel leaks and clogged helium lines.

The last time NASA sent astronauts to the Moon was during Apollo 17 in 1972, with the new Artemis programme aiming for a two-person landing in 2028.