It's been more than 50 years since NASA sent astronauts toward the moon and the Artemis II mission is paving the way to put more humans into space. On April 1, the Orion spacecraft shot up into Earth orbit and began tests to make sure everything was ready for the April 2 engine burn which will take the four astronauts into lunar orbit.
Artemis II is all about testing everything from how Orion handles spaceflight to figuring out the next steps for humans to return to the moon and spread out to Mars.
Dr. Racine Cleveland was watching last night when Orion blasted off. She's a planetary science postdoctoral research fellow at Boise State University and she’s been studying Martian dust devils with Dr. Brian Jackson in Boise State's Physics Department.
She's a big Artemis enthusiast and she joined Idaho Matters to tell us about the mission!
