NASA's Artemis program is the U.S. effort to return astronauts to the ⁠moon ⁠for the first time since the Apollo era and ⁠eventually establish a sustained human presence there, a goal Washington has framed as central to maintaining space leadership amid ​growing competition from China.

NASA's Artemis II mission is expected to last about 10 days, sending four astronauts on a high-speed journey around the moon and back in the first crewed lunar mission since the ​Apollo era.