NASA will send another crewed mission to the Moon on March 7

BarcelonaNASA restarts the clock for the launch of the first manned mission to the Moon After more than 50 years since the last trip, the return flight is scheduled for Friday, March 6 (Saturday, March 7, Catalan time), following the successful completion of the second full fuel test. It was "a very successful day," the US space agency announced, following the satisfactory test results. Weather permitting, NASA hopes to take advantage of a launch window in two weeks to launch the Artemis II mission, with four astronauts on board, who will spend ten days in space on the far side of the Moon. The mission's objective is to prepare for a future mission that will explore the Moon further. The launch will take place from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Miami, from where the future crew monitored the fuel tests.

Officials from the US federal agency emphasize that the process of filling the rocket's tank was successful, as was the simulated fuel count, although with some minor setbacks that did not necessitate aborting the mission. This is the second cold test of the Artemis II mission, after failures in the first that prevented the mission's launch during the launch windows in February.

The Artemis II mission marks the return of humans to the Moon after more than half a century. Furthermore, NASA also aims to showcase diversity and, for the first time, will send a woman, an African American, and a Canadian into lunar orbit.

The space agency has set its sights on the Moon as a fundamental part of developing the human spaceflight program and the aspiration to reach Mars, in a race in which China has become much more competitive in recent years.