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NASA’s rocket launch teams have had a busy time at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. If all goes well, NASA’s next-generation Artemis rocket will blast off for the moon on Monday. This is going to be 50 years after the Apollo moon missions. Reuters news.

NASA officially announced on Sunday that all arrangements have been made for the flight. Flight operations will begin on Monday at 8:33 local time.

NASA has set possible alternate launch dates of September 2 and September 5 as a precaution in case the countdown clock stops for some reason.

“We’re very excited, the vehicle is ready to fly and it looks great,” said Jeff Spaulding, director of the historic Artemis-1 test mission.

NASA sees this lunar mission as preparation for going to Mars. They hope to send astronauts to Mars by 2030 or soon after.

The rocket is expected to return to Earth on October 10. Landing in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California. The first manned mission on Artemis-2 is targeted for 2024. And Artemis-3 will not go to the moon before 2025.