Four astronauts have embarked on a high-stakes flight around the moon, humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century. It’s the thrilling leadoff in NASA’s push toward a lunar landing in two years. The 32-story moon rocket blasted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday evening, carrying three Americans and one Canadian. The Artemis II crew will spend a day in orbit around Earth checking their capsule before firing the main engine that will propel them to the moon. The nearly 10-day mission will see them fly around the moon and set a distance record, before coming straight back home.

It's humanity's first flight to the moon since 1972. In a throwback to Apollo, NASA's Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar fly-around. Three Americans and a Canadian will launch into orbit around Earth and then head for the moon. They'll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back during the nearly 10-day mission. The Artemis launch will begin at Florida's Kennedy Space Center where the Apollo moonshots did. The mission will end with a splashdown homecoming into the Pacific.

Everything seems to be going NASA's way as the countdown proceeds toward a Wednesday launch of astronauts' first trip to the moon in more than half a century. Officials said Tuesday that the rocket is doing well on its Florida pad and the weather looks promising. The four astronauts assigned to the Artemis II mission will become the first lunar visitors since Apollo 17 in 1972. They'll zip around the moon without landing or even orbiting and come straight back. The launch team will begin fueling the 32-story rocket Wednesday morning for an evening send-off.

The countdown has begun toward humanity’s first launch to the moon in 53 years. NASA’s countdown clocks started ticking late Monday afternoon at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The 32-story Space Launch System rocket is poised to blast off Wednesday evening with four astronauts. After a day in orbit around Earth, their Orion capsule will propel them to the moon and back. NASA says the rocket is doing well after the latest round of repairs. The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon was during Apollo 17 in 1972.

NASA's Apollo moonshots are a tough act to follow, even after all this time. As four astronauts get set to blast off on humanity's first trip to the moon in more than half a century, comparisons between Apollo and NASA's new Artemis program are inevitable. Artemis reflects more of society, with a woman, person of color and Canadian rocketing away from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. But they won't orbit the moon like the world's first lunar visitors did on Apollo 8 back in 1968. Instead, they'll play it safe and zip around the moon in an out-and-back slingshot like Apollo 13.