Artemis II astronauts arrive at Florida launch site for first moon trip in 53 years

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The astronauts set to become the first lunar visitors in more than half a century arrived at their launch site Friday, joining the towering rocket that stands poised to blast off next week and send them around the moon.

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman flew in with his three crewmates from Houston. It was the closest they've come to launching. Fuel leaks and other rocket issues caused two months of delay and double hangar-to-pad rollouts.

NASA's new administrator Jared Isaacman greeted the astronauts as they emerged from their T-38 training jets at Kennedy Space Center. Besides Wiseman, the crew includes NASA's Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canada's Jeremy Hansen. The welcoming committee also included the Canadian Space Agency's president, Lisa Campbell, dozens of NASA managers and more than 100 journalists.

“Hey, let's go to the moon!” Wiseman shouted to the crowd. “I think the nation and the world have been waiting a long time to do this again.”

“We're all fired up to go do this,” Hansen added. “So ‘Allons-y!’ " — French for let's go.

NASA is aiming for liftoff as soon as Wednesday. The space agency has the first six days of April to launch the Space Rocket System rocket before standing down for nearly a month.

Wiseman stressed there's no guarantee they will launch in early April as planned, and that it could slip to May or even June. The Space Launch System rocket has soared only once before; the crew-less test flight to the moon was back in 2022.

“That’s this business,” Glover said of all the delays. “It will go when the engines light at T-zero, and we totally understand that.”

The Orion capsule atop the rocket will carry the four on NASA's first astronaut moonshot since Apollo 17 in 1972. The 10-day flight will end with a Pacific splashdown.

Earlier this week, Isaacman outlined a fresh plan for the moon base that NASA intends to build under the Artemis program. The upcoming moonshot will be followed in 2027 by a lunar lander demo in orbit around Earth and in 2028 by one and possibly two lunar landings by astronauts.

Koch said the changes are motivating and inspiring. “We're in a relay race ... and if nothing else this just fired us up for that all the more."

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Artemis 2 crew members, pilot Victor Glover, left, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch, fist bump after the crew's arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Artemis 2 crew members, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, front and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, speaks to the media after the crew's arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Artemis 2 crew member, Pilot Victor Glover, waves to the media after the crew's arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Artemis 2 Commander Reid Wiseman speaks to the media after the crew's arrival at the Kennedy Space Center, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Artemis 2 crew members, from left, Mission Spc. Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, Mission Spc. Christina Koch, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover pose for a photo after the crew's arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

FILE - NASA's Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) moon rocket with the Orion spacecraft slowly rolls back towards the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Feb. 25, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File

FILE - NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, left, answers questions during a news conference, next to the crew of the new moon rocket, Artemis II, from left, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover and commander Reid Wiseman at the Kennedy Space Center, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, FIle)

JUPITER ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods was involved in a rollover car crash on Friday, the Martin County Sheriff's Office told media outlets.

Authorities said the crash occurred just after 2 p.m. not far from where Woods lives in Jupiter Island. Martin County Fire Rescue said there were no serious injuries, CBS 12 reported.

Woods' manager at Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a text message seeking information.

It was the third time Woods has been involved in a car crash, most recently in February 2021 when his SUV ran off a coastal road in Los Angeles at a high rate of speed that led to multiple leg and ankle injuries. Woods said later doctors considered amputation.

He also was arrested on a DUI charge in 2017 when south Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of his car that was parked awkwardly with damage to the driver's side. Woods said later he had taken a bad mix of painkillers.

Woods had been working his way back to golf from a seventh back surgery last September. He had not decided whether he could play in the Masters on April 9-12.

His last official tournament was the British Open in 2024. Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2025 and that kept him off the course all season, and then he had another back surgery in September. He managed to play in his indoor TGL golf league on Tuesday night.

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Tiger Woods of the Jupiter Links Golf Club plays a shot from a bunker on the eighth hole, during final day of TGL golf tournament, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Palm Beach Gardens Fla. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)