Capa Canaveral: Four astronauts have embarked on a high-stakes mission around the Moon, marking humanity’s first crewed lunar voyage in more than half a century and a major step in NASA’s plans to return humans to the lunar surface.

NASA’s launch team fuelled the 32-storey Space Launch System rocket with more than 700,000 gallons of propellant early on Wednesday, ahead of its evening lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The crew of the Artemis II mission- Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will travel thousands of miles beyond the Moon before looping back towards Earth. The mission will not include a lunar landing or spacewalk, instead serving as a test flight lasting under 10 days.

Unlike the Apollo missions, Artemis II features a more diverse crew, including the first woman, a person of colour and a Canadian astronaut to take part in a lunar mission.

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The flight is part of NASA’s broader Artemis programme, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon. The space agency is targeting a crewed landing near the lunar south pole by 2028, with Artemis II acting as a critical precursor to future missions.