Today, NASA is set to send four astronauts on a trip around the moon and back. If the mission succeeds, a return of astronauts to the moon’s surface could follow.

Kenneth Chang, who covers science, explains why the United States wants to go back to the moon. 

Guest: Kenneth Chang, a science reporter at The New York Times who writes about NASA and the solar system.

Background reading: 

• What to know about NASA’s Artemis II moon mission.
• For a member of the crew, the journey to the moon is “starting to feel real.”

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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