The quest to reach  the Moon has always been a key part of the American myth.So has the country's embrace of immigrants, and its vision of itself as a defender of democracy around the world. On a day all three are in play,

NASA’s Artemis II has launched astronauts around the moon for the first time since 1972 — the first step toward a planned lunar landing in 2028.

The four Artemis II mission astronauts have entered the Orion capsule and are in place for humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than half a century, aiming for an evening liftoff. NASA's launch

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida — The US military has always been part of NASA’s human spaceflight program. The first astronauts were nearly all military pilots, and two of the four crew members set to fly around the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II mission were Navy test pilots before joining the astronaut corps.

The four crew members of NASA's Artemis II mission boarded the spacecraft Wednesday afternoon in preparation for the first crewed mission to the moon in more than five decades. The door on the Orion crew capsule was shut and sealed to lock the four astronauts -- NASA's Victor Glover,