Artemis II astronauts arrive in Florida ahead of first moon trip in 53 years

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The astronauts set to become the first lunar visitors in more than half a century arrived at their launch site Friday, joining the towering rocket that stands poised to blast off next week and send them around the moon.

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman flew in with his three crewmates from Houston. It was the closest they’ve come to launching. Fuel leaks and other rocket issues caused two months of delay and double hangar-to-pad rollouts.

NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman greeted the astronauts as they emerged from their T-38 training jets at Kennedy Space Center. Besides Wiseman, the crew includes NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen.

[WATCH: Artemis II astronauts to pave way for moon landing]

NASA is aiming for liftoff as soon as Wednesday. The space agency has the first six days of April to launch the Space Rocket System rocket before standing down for nearly a month.

The Orion capsule atop the rocket will carry the four on NASA’s first astronaut moonshot since Apollo 17 in 1972. The 10-day flight will end with a Pacific splashdown.

Earlier this week, Isaacman outlined a fresh plan for the moon base that NASA intends to build under the Artemis program. The upcoming moonshot will be followed in 2027 by a lunar lander demo in orbit around Earth and in 2028 by one and possibly two lunar landings by astronauts.

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