NASA Astronaut Raja Chari joined WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" radio program on Friday about the first flight of NASA’s Artemis program launching August 29.

• ON MONDAY: Artemis I Paves the Way For Humanity’s Reach to the Moon and Beyond. NASA is about to launch a new chapter of space exploration. NASA will launch its Mega Moon rocket, the Space Launch System, carrying the Orion spacecraft for the first time as the first step as part of NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration efforts. The uncrewed test flight will mark the first time since the last Apollo mission that a spacecraft designed for crew has made a flight around the Moon, and will set the stage for the first woman and first person of color to set foot on the Moon.
• Artemis I, targeted to launch as soon as Aug. 29 at 8:33 a.m. EDT, will send the Orion spacecraft 40,000 miles beyond the Moon. At that distance, Orion will break Apollo 13’s record for furthest from Earth any spacecraft designed for humans has gone.
• For more information about Artemis I, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1
• Astronaut Raja Chari: https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/raja-chari
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/astro_raja

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