Years ago, I was wandering through an antique shop along the Treasure Coast where I live and came across a bin filled with maps, posters of fish and other images. Buried at the bottom were two, hi-res images taken of Cape Canaveral: the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the other of launch complex 39B. What makes this launch pad so special is that it was used for the Apollo and Shuttle missions and now by SpaceX and the Artemis Missions.
The owner furrowed his brow when I brought them up to the counter. He was a space buff himself and didn’t know he had these, asking where I got them from. Fortunately for me, he got distracted by another customer and sold them to me before seeing what these images were actually of. The cool thing about the image of the VAB is that it has United States Bicentennial emblem. Since the paint looks relatively crisp and there is quite a bit of construction/activity in the foreground consistent with the Bicentennial Exposition, this shot was likely taken in 1976 or 1977.
Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and Goddess of the Moon. A fitting tribute for a mission focused on establishing a long-term presence on the lunar surface.
The rocket and Orion were rolled out to Launch Pad 39B just four days ago (March 20). NASA is currently targeting April 1, 2026, at 6:24 PM EDT for the first launch attempt.
If all systems are Go, we will watch four astronauts orbit the moon and return to Earth, using spacecraft never used before. Below is a link on BBC.com, which takes you through the the interactive parts of the ship.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-86aafe5a-17e2-479c-9e12-3a7a41e10e9e
The four-person crew was selected not just for their flight experience, but to represent a “global” approach to lunar exploration. As of today, March 24, 2026, they have already begun their pre-launch quarantine in Houston.
| Role | Astronaut | Background / Fun Fact |
| Commander | Reid Wiseman (NASA) | A naval aviator who previously spent 165 days on the ISS. |
| Pilot | Victor Glover (NASA) | He will be the first person of color to go to the Moon. |
| Mission Specialist | Christina Koch (NASA) | Holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman; she will be the first woman to go to the Moon. |
| Mission Specialist | Jeremy Hansen (CSA) | A colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces and the first non-American to leave Earth’s orbit. |
I will be watching the launch from my backyard looking north, where weekly SpaceX Starlink deployments rise through the cloudless skies. It never gets old and renews the excitement of reading Science Fiction as a teen, with each flight.
Godspeed!