Monday is set for the launch of NASA's Artemis I Moon Mission.

During the 42-day, more than 1 million-mile journey, there won't be any people in the crew capsule.

On Monday, the rocket and spaceship that NASA hopes to send a woman and a person of colour to the moon will undergo its most rigorous test to yet. NASA's Space Launch System rocket will have a two-hour window to launch an empty crew capsule on a six-week journey around the moon beginning at 8:33 in the morning.

"We'll put it under pressure and test it. To attempt to make it as safe as possible, we're going to have it do things that we would never do with a person aboard, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told The Associated Press.

No people will be aboard the Orion crew capsule for the duration of the 42-day, over-a million-mile journey. Instead, mannequins with sensors that assess things like radiation and vibrations will go on the spaceship.
It will go 40,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon and spend more time in space than any other human spaceship without docking to a space station. In October, the capsule is anticipated to splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

According to NASA, the Artemis I mission is the first of a succession of more difficult missions that will establish a permanent human presence on the Moon for many years to come. A crew will go around the moon on Artemis II no sooner than 2024, and astronauts will touch down on Artemis III close to the south pole.