NASA begins the countdown for humanity's first launch to the moon in 53 years

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA began the countdown Monday for humanity’s first launch to the moon in 53 years.

The 32-story Space Launch System rocket is poised to blast off Wednesday evening with four astronauts. After a day in orbit around Earth, their Orion capsule will propel them to the moon and back. There are no stops — just a quick U-turn around the moon. The nearly 10-day flight will end with a splashdown in the Pacific.

“Our team has worked extremely hard to get us to this moment,” said launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. "Certainly all indications are right now we are in excellent, excellent shape.”

Managers said the rocket is doing well following the latest round of repairs. Forecasters said the weather should cooperate.

NASA’s Artemis II mission should have soared in February, but was grounded by hydrogen fuel leaks. The leaks were fixed, but then a helium pressurization line became clogged, forcing a return to the hangar late last month. The rocket returned to the pad 1 1/2 weeks ago, and its U.S.-Canadian crew arrived at the launch site on Friday.

Unlike Apollo, which sent only men to the moon from 1968 through 1972, Artemis’ debut crew includes a woman, person of color and a non-U.S. citizen.

Artemis II’s pilot Victor Glover said over the weekend that he wants young people to see them and think, “Girl power and that’s awesome, and that young brown boys and girls can look at me and go ‘Hey, he looks like me and he’s doing what???’”

At the same time, Glover, who is Black, looks forward to when ”one day we don’t have to talk about these firsts” and exploring the cosmos becomes an all-encompassing “human history.”

NASA has the first six days of April to launch Artemis II before standing down until the end of the month.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center at sunrise Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Crew lunar observations lead Sara Schmidt demonstrates software at Johnson Space Center on Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Photographers setup remote cameras near NASA's Artermis II moon rocket on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

In this photo provided by NASA, astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr. collects lunar samples at Station No. 1 during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity at the Descartes landing site, April 21, 1972. (John W. Young/NASA via AP)

Salvador Perez and the Kansas City Royals have been baseball's best at utilizing their robot challenges through the first weekend of the Automated Ball-Strike System.

Perez topped all catchers by going 4-0 on challenges, while San Francisco's Heliot Ramos and Cincinnati's Eugenio Suárez were the only batters who went 2-0 — Suárez won his appeals on consecutive pitches.

“I don’t know if I like it or not," Perez said. “I don’t want the umpire to look bad.”

Three-time MVP Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels is 3-1 on challenges.

Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. was the only batter who went 0-2.

Kansas City and Arizona were the only perfect teams, with the Royals 4-0 and Arizona 3-0. Houston was 0-6 and St. Louis was 0-3.

Many teams have tried to save their challenges for high-leverage situations.

“1-1 counts. Counts that are going to end the at-bat. Those are big challenge times,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson, whose team went 4-3.

Challenges had a 53.7% success rate through 47 games. There were 175 challenges, an average of 3.7 per game.

Catchers succeeded on 59 of 92 challenges for a 64% rate, but batters on 33 of 78 for a 42% rate. There were just five challenges by pitchers, with Baltimore's Ryan Helsley and the Athletics' Hogan Harris winning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Edwin Díaz, Houston's Roddery Muñoz and Philadelphia's Zach Pop losing.

Cincinnati batters went 6-0, while Braves batters were 0-4.

“We have guidelines that we think are strategic and give us a good idea of when we want to challenge," said Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable, whose team is 4 for 9. "A mid-at-bat challenge is different than a potential strikeout or walk.

C.B. Bucknor had the poorest ABS results among umpires when six of eight challenges of his calls were successful during Cincinnati's 6-5, 11-inning win on Saturday. All six overturned calls involved strikes being changed to balls. The two confirmed calls involved a ball and a strike.

Boston's Alex Cora was ejected in that game by Bucknor for arguing a checked swing call.

“I feel bad for them because everybody has a bad day," Thomson said of the umpires. "The last thing you want to see is somebody get embarrassed. I don’t care who it is, player, coach, umpire. I don’t want to ever see anybody get embarrassed playing this game.”

Minnesota’s Derek Shelton became the first manager ejected for arguing an ABS call on Sunday. He was tossed in the ninth inning of a game against Baltimore after complaining that Helsley waited too long to signal for a review.

Under the ABS system that started this season, teams can appeal strike zone decisions to a system based on 12 Hawk-Eye cameras that measure whether any part of the ball crosses the strike zone with accuracy of about one-sixth of an inch.

“I kind of believe there’s going to be a change with the percentage of the ball that’s touching," Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. "When the ball just nicks it, should that be a strike?”

AP Sports Writers Dan Gelston, Steve Megargee and Dave Skretta contributed to this report.

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A call is overturned to a walk by the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, displayed on the stadium screens, after Cincinnati Reds' Will Benson challenged at pitch result during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox in Cincinnati, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Mike Trout reacts after striking out as the ABS replay shows on the screen during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Houston, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) confirms a call after Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson challenged (pitch result), call on the field, Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran walks during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Cincinnati, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez high-fives teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)