You've probably heard it said by now: NASA's Artemis 2 mission was the first to launch astronauts toward the moon in more than 50 years. But that was just the first of the firsts that this mission would achieve. In fact, you may have go back just as long in space history to find another spaceflight with as many firsts and records broken.
Artemis 2 launched on April 1. And it's no joke that the 10-day flight is an ambitious shakeout cruise for NASA's Orion spacecraft, which is carrying the crew on a free-return trajectory out beyond the moon and back again. The mission is testing the space capsule's life support system and demonstrating its ability to maneuver during rendezvous and (simulated) docking activities.
