KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida — The US military has always been part of NASA’s human spaceflight program. The first astronauts were nearly all military pilots, and two of the four crew members set to fly around the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II mission were Navy test pilots before joining the astronaut corps.

When the crew of the Artemis II mission to the moon splash lands off the coast Friday, it won’t be San Diego’s first moment in the NASA spotlight. It won’t even be the first time a spacecraft has splashed down in the same general location.

Two former U.S. Navy fighter pilots are aboard the first crewed orbit around the moon in more than 50 years after launching on Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the Artemis II mission. Retired Capt.

The Artemis II mission crew contains four people -- including one woman and one Black man, both of whom will be the first on a lunar mission. But NASA hasn't been talking about these milestones much.

All three NASA astronauts on the Artemis II lunar mission are veterans of Earth-orbit science expeditions to the International Space Station, while the lone Canadian joining ​them on a voyage around the moon and back is a spaceflight ‌rookie.

Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut and former Navy pilot, will command Artemis II. Learn about his education, career, spaceflight experience, and role in NASA’s first crewed mission around the Moon.

The crew of the Artemis II mission will include the first woman and person of color to travel to deep space, ushering in a new era of representation in exploration beyond Earth.

NASA says space mission on track for Wednesday launch, aiming to carry a crew to the moon for first time in 5 decades

The Artemis II crew prepared for their return home and NASA inspected the exterior of the Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California on Friday.