Wednesday's a day that will likely go down in history as a major move from the Earth to the planet Mars.
A series of NASA missions continues today that includes the blast-off of the Artemis II space shot, which is expected to orbit the Moon, as one official puts it, "just as President Trump ordered."
A while back, the Artemis program started with Artemis I, which tested out the hardware and software of the mission as NASA prepared to take its first steps back toward the Moon.
"Artemis One was unmanned and tested out the missile and trajectory, but today's Artemis Two will actually have a crew onboard, they will not land on the Moon but they will orbit the Moon and they will help test out the systems," says Rice University Professor David Alexander
Artemis Two, after expected blast-off, will be back in ten days with a landing in the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA Administrator Jered Isaacman.
Artemis Three, set for more than two years from now, will be a major step forward too, he says, it''ll be to "build the Moon base, do the resource manufacturing, the experimentation that's going to be required so that, someday, you can take the next giant leap to Mars."
That will Artemis IV, the trip to Mars, but the date for it's engagement with the stars is not set yet.
Till then, it's the new race to the Moon!