NASA Puts Moon Mission Crew in Quarantine

Astronauts aiming for the moon are now living under rules that look a lot like 2020. Futurism reports that the four-person Artemis 2 crew has entered NASA's standard pre-launch isolation program, a roughly two-week "health stabilization" effort designed to keep them from catching anything that could derail the first human trip around the Moon in more than 50 years. They can still see friends and family, but with masks, distancing, and a ban on public places.

The mission, which will send the crew past the Moon's far side and farther from Earth than any humans have ever traveled, is targeting an early February launch, with a key "wet dress rehearsal" set before that while the astronauts remain in quarantine. NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, joined by Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, won't land on the moon or even orbit it but it is still the first crewed mission to "lunar realms" since 1972, Space.com reports.

NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule are already at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B, positioned for what the agency calls a major step toward putting people back on the lunar surface with Artemis 3 as early as next year. The five potential launch dates next month are Feb. 6-8 and Feb. 10-11, per Space.com. If those don't work out, NASA is looking at five potential launch dates in March and six in April.