We're about to see how serious America is about returning to the moon

Next week, NASA is scheduled to conduct the first test launch of the rocket that will someday propel astronauts toward the moon. The rocket, known as the Space Launch System, is the most powerful ever built, and will loft a gumdrop-shaped astronaut capsule into orbit. No people will be on board this first time, only a trio of mannequins covered in sensors. The capsule, named Orion, will go on a journey around the moon and then back to Earth, where it must survive a fiery reentry through the planet’s atmosphere for a splashdown at sea.

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The test run is the first in a series of moon missions, each one more complex and riskier than the last, that is meant to foster a sustained lunar program unlike any before. NASA plans to make the first landing attempt of America’s modern moon effort in 2025, and has made it a point that the crew will include—unlike the all-male, all-white Apollo groups—a woman and a person of color.

You could be forgiven for not knowing that any of this is happening. Most Americans are probably unaware that NASA has such ambitious moon plans, let alone that the rocket developed for the job has a name. (The Space Launch System is not exactly the snazziest brand; the “Mega Moon Rocket,” which NASA officials occasionally use instead, might be catchier.) Even the program’s more evocative designation—Artemis, for the sister of Apollo in Greek mythology—is not yet a household term. You might be thinking, NASA already went to the moon over 50 years ago. What is it going to do there this time?

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