Four astronauts strapped into NASA's new moon rocket and awaited liftoff Wednesday on humanity’s first lunar trip in more than half a century. The three Americans and one Canadian waved and shaped their hands into hearts as they emerged from crew quarters to cheers and said goodbye to their families.

The quest to reach  the Moon has always been a key part of the American myth.So has the country's embrace of immigrants, and its vision of itself as a defender of democracy around the world. On a day all three are in play,

NASA's powerful Launch Abort System, designed to outrun an exploding rocket, is the result of years of work from scientists and engineers across the country, including in Southern California's Mojave Desert.

In other words, when they become part of history, so will their orange suits. Though much of the spacesuit-related attention thus far has been levied on the white spacewalk suits being created by Prada and Axiom Space, it is the orange suits that may be the more eye-catching — by design.

Then comes an awkwardly timed maneuver: the so-called "perigee raise" burn. Mission managers say this unassuming moment sits in the same high‑risk category as liftoff itself. The problem is when that engine burn must happen — right in the middle of the astronauts' sleep.

The Artemis II astronauts are wearing spacesuits custom-made for them by a Worcester, Massachusetts company.