Through NASA's long-awaited Artemis program, the United States is seeking to secure its lead in the new space race, as a combination of technological advancements and the potential for lucrative natural resources on the moon and other planetary bodies draw more countries to venture beyond Earth's atmosphere -- with the United States' top geopolitical rivals, China and Russia, being chief among them. After many delays, the first major mission launch under NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program has been scheduled for Aug. 29, with Sept. 2 and Sept. 5 as the backup launch windows. The unmanned Artemis I mission will test the performance of the U.S. agency's new Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft in the hopes of certifying their use for future crewed missions....
