No one in NASA’s Artemis II crew had been born when astronauts last ventured into deep space for the final Apollo program Moon landing in 1972. For the last half-century, human space efforts have focused on science research and technology initiatives aboard low-Earth-orbit spacecraft, culminating with the Inter-national Space Station.

The mission will celebrate America’s 250th anniversary of independence by taking to space items that reflect its legacy and history.

Even as NASA celebrated the rollout of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II over the weekend, NASA's new administrator, Jared Isaacman, made sure to put an asterisk on the program's future.