NASA took one small step for mankind on the moon in 1969 but in 2022, they tell us they're taking a massive leap to put us back there long-term.
"We are going to go to the moon and stay sustainably. We're going to be in orbit around the moon as well as build a basecamp and hopefully me living and working on the moon in just a few short years, to hopefully build ourselves up to be on to mars much later," said Amy Marasia, Nasa Orion Spacecraft Assembly Branch Chief.
Marasia told ABC Action News that NASA wants to achieve this through its Artemis program.
"We are going to go into a distant retrograde orbit, which will take us 40,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon and that is farther than any spacecraft has gone before," she said.
This unmanned mission will take about three weeks to scope out the moon and come back.
But the goal next time is to send people!
"For me, it's a great opportunity to be and an honor to be a part of this program," said Marasia.
It's a launch that NASA said they hope the next generation is watching.
"[We need] All those younger folks who need to continue to build this program, to push us further into the solar system to explore, you know that is what we're hoping to inspire with the Artemis program," said Marasia.
