(Web Desk) - Nasa is gearing up to send the first crew of astronauts to the moon after a more than half a century hiatus in human flights to our nearest celestial neighbor.
And a key difference between the old Apollo flights and the coming Artemis launches is how Nasa approaches safety.
That's why the space agency is installing and testing emergency "baskets" at the Kennedy Space Center launch complex in Florida.
The idea is that these baskets will be able to quickly rise up like a cherry picker and whisk any astronauts or other NASA personnel away from the Artemis II rocket and capsule in the event of an emergency during the lead up and countdown before take off, currently scheduled for some time in Sept. 2025.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the moon since Apollo 17 — but importantly, this mission will not involve a landing on the moon.
That will come in 2026 at the earliest, NASA recently said.
The safety baskets still need to undergo testing to ensure they are up to the task.
Once that’s complete, the astronauts and pad personnel themselves will take part in a drill to ensure everyone knows the emergency plan and route.
In a recent press conference, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free underscored the fact that the success of the Artemis program rests on being able to guarantee astronauts' safety as much as the technology and engineering needed to get them to the moon.
"Safety is our number one priority," Free said.