Humanity is just days away from a historic return to the lunar vicinity, and a familiar face from eastern North Carolina is leading the charge.
NASA is in the final countdown for the Artemis II mission, currently targeted for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center as early as Wednesday. The 10-day journey will take four astronauts around the far side of the moon—marking the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years.
Among the crew is Mission Specialist Christina Koch, who grew up in Jacksonville. A graduate of White Oak High School and N.C. State, Koch is already a record-breaker, holding the title for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. With this mission, she will become the first woman to ever travel beyond low-Earth orbit.
Earlier this month, her hometown celebrated her legacy by dedicating a "moon tree" at White Oak High—a sweet gum tree that actually orbited the moon during the uncrewed Artemis I flight.
Speaking from pre-launch quarantine last week, Koch said the journey is "starting to feel real," as the crew prepares to use the human eye as a primary science tool to study lunar features never before seen directly by people.
Liftoff is scheduled for a two-hour window opening at 6:24 p.m. Eastern. As the world watches the sky on April 1st, Jacksonville will be cheering on one of its own as she reaches for the stars.
