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    Short WaveWhy is NASA going to the moon again?
    13 min

    Why is NASA going to the moon again?

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    NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to launch this week, which could bring humanity close to the moon for the first time since 1972. It’s a mission that’s over twenty years in the making – and even though it’s not the first venture out to the moon, it still involves a lot of firsts. If all goes to plan, the mission will bring the first woman, person of color and non-American close to the moon. But why are we embarking on a sequel space mission to begin with?

    Interested in more science behind current events? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

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    © NPRLength 13 min1 April 2026ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic

    Introducing Short Wave

    Introducing Short Wave

    This is an episodic podcast, so you can listen to it in any order, but episode one is a great place to start.

    Listen to episode one here
    11+ScienceFactsEducationalUSAEpisodic1 April 2026© NPR

    NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to launch this week, which could bring humanity close to the moon for the first time since 1972. It’s a mission that’s over twenty years in the making – and even though it’s not the first venture out to the moon, it still involves a lot of firsts. If all goes to plan, the mission will bring the first woman, person of color and non-American close to the moon. But why are we embarking on a sequel space mission to begin with? And while they’re up in space, what could scientists learn about the possibility of life in space for those of us still on Earth?

    Interested in more science behind current events? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.

    Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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    © NPR |Original Episode URL. The content, artwork and advertising within this podcast is not owned or affiliated with Sound Carrot and remain the property of their respective owners.


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