Florida tourists gather to witness history ahead of moon launch

What began as a family vacation from northeastern Maine quickly turned into something far rarer for Jason Heath: a front-row seat to history as NASA prepares to send Artemis II into space.

“It’s definitely cool to know that humans are going further than ever before,” said the 40-year-old shipbuilder, speaking from Cocoa Beach, the bustling Florida resort near the NASA launch site where the towering orange-and-white rocket is due to thunder into the sky.

“It’s definitely pretty cool to know that I’ll be around,” he said.

Years behind schedule, Artemis II is now set to carry three Americans – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch – along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission expected to surpass the distance reached by the Apollo crews, taking humans farther into space than ever before.

Local Florida newspapers report that about 400,000 people are expected to gather for the launch, which is currently scheduled for 6.24 pm local time today (11.24pm Irish time).

By 8.35 am local time, crews had begun loading the rocket’s massive tanks with liquid hydrogen and oxygen under clear, sunny Florida skies.

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With temperatures sitting at around 25C, Alyx Coster, 38, spent the day on the beach with her children, who, she said, are “super excited” to watch the launch.

The family – with children aged 10, 11 and 18 – had travelled from Minnesota for a baseball trip and only discovered the timing after they arrived. “We didn’t know it was happening until we got down here,” she told AFP.

Now, though, they know just how fortunate their timing was.

Ms Coster said her children were “super proud that they’ll get to witness history”.

Their surprise is not unusual. Despite NASA’s publicity campaign and news coverage underscoring the significance of the mission, many Americans interviewed in recent weeks said they had not heard about the flight.

Melinda Schuerfranz, 76, said she still remembers the Apollo era, when families would sit around the television and watch each leap in space exploration unfold.

“I think it was way more exciting then, but I think it was publicised more too, and everybody tuned into it,” she said.

Her husband John said the Cold War-era “space race” with the Soviet Union also helped drive public attention.

Even so, the couple, who were also spending time at the beach, said they were thrilled to be there: “We’ve never seen anything like this.”

“We can’t wait,” said Melinda. “We’ll be here early.”