NEW DELHI: The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has completed final preparations for the launch of its ‘Artemis II’ mission — which is scheduled to lift off as early as April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center.

According to NASA, the mission will mark the first crewed flight under its Artemis programme, sending four astronauts on an approximately 10-day journey around the Moon.

Artemis II will also be the first time humans travel beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo era.

The crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The mission will be launched aboard NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and will test the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems with humans onboard for the first time.