The Artemis II mission around the moon will be a brilliant last hurrah for several space shuttle engines and booster rocket parts that first flew as far back as 1982.

The Artemis 2 mission is due to send astronauts on a test mission to the moon and back during the "opening act" of a new age of discovery.

On January 28, 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just 73 seconds after liftoff. Pilot Michael Smith's final words revealed something was very wrong.

When is Artemis 2 lifting off? Launch date window, times, what to know Since then, we've touched the moon, "walked" in space, sent equipment into interstellar space and dream of moving to Mars. As excitement builds for the possible launch this week of Artemis II in a historic manned orbit around the moon,

NASA started the countdown clock for Artemis II while SpaceX lined up another launch with a record-setting booster.

NASA launched the Artemis II mission, which will carry humans to the moon for the first time since 1972.

Nasa hails "flawless" engine burn to propel the spacecraft to the far side of the Moon, taking humans out of Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972.