WATCH LIVE: Artemis II blasts off on journey sending astronauts around the moon

NASA is fueling its Space Launch System rocket Wednesday for the Artemis II mission, targeting an evening launch that will send four astronauts on a journey around the moon. The flight marks humanity's return to lunar exploration after a hiatus of more than 50 years, since the final Apollo mission in 1972. Artemis II is a crucial test of NASA's lunar program, designed to validate systems and procedures before the agency attempts a crewed moon landing on Artemis III. The mission will carry astronauts in the Orion capsule on a multi-day flight that loops around the moon before returning to Earth. Success would position NASA to resume human lunar exploration and establish a sustainable presence on the moon's surface.