NASA Tests New Moon Rocket, 50 Years After Apollo

(Left) The Saturn V rocket with Apollo 12's spacecraft aboard on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in 1969. (Right) NASA's new moon rocket for the Artemis program with the Orion spacecraft on top at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on March 18, 2022. AP Photo

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Years late and billions over budget, NASA’s new moon rocket makes its debut next week in a high-stakes test flight before astronauts get on top.

The 322-foot rocket (98-meter) will attempt to send an empty crew capsule into a far-flung lunar orbit, 50 years after NASA’s famed Apollo moonshots.