Gina

In just days, humans could get closer to the moon than they have in over half a century.

The last astronaut to ever walk on the lunar surface was Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan.

He and his crewmates left the moon in December 1972.

Since then, no one has ventured so far out into space.

Now, though, NASA is poised to launch four astronauts on the Artemis II mission.

The plan is to fly around the moon in a bell-shaped capsule before coming back and splashing down into the Pacific Ocean.

The mission's commander is NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman.

He emphasized that this is a test mission.

So what kind of test mission is it?

And what could it mean for NASA's long-term moon plans?

To answer those questions, we're checking in with NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfield-Boyce, who's at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida right now.

Hey, Nell.

Hey there, Gina.

It is so cool that you're there for the launch.

I'm very jealous.

So where are you right now?

Like, can you see the rocket that's going to blast off?

the earliest this mission can launch is today, Wednesday the 1st, and this is the start of the launch window, right?

Today on the show, humans returning to the moon, well, around the moon anyway, and traveling the furthest we as a species have ever gone into space.

We'll be answering why people are returning to the moon and what it means for the future of living on other worlds.