ISTANBUL

NASA is targeting early March to launch four astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than five decades, in what would be the furthest journey into space since the 1972 moon landing under the Apollo program.

The Artemis II mission will send the crew on a 10-day flight around the far side of the Moon and back to Earth, paving the way for a future lunar landing under the Artemis program, which began in 2017.

The agency set the earliest launch date for March 6 following a successful wet dress rehearsal at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, completing the second full fueling and countdown test.