Eyeing the Future: NASA Crew-4 Astronauts View Artemis I Moon Rocket

Eyeing the Future: NASA Crew-4 Astronauts View Artemis I Moon Rocket

NASA's Crew-4 astronauts, from left, Jessica Watkins, Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Samantha Cristoforetti stand inside the crew access arm at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A during a dry dress rehearsal on April 20, 2022. Reflected and lit up in the background is NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission at Launch Complex 39B. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti launched Wednesday, April 27, 2022, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost. The Crew-4 mission will carry the astronauts to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.  It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a three-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.

Learn more about Artemis I at:

NASA's Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Image Credit: SpaceX

Image Date: April 19, 2022

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