CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — Four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — are scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 6:24 p.m. ET on Wednesday, becoming the first humans to travel to the moon since 1972. The launch remains subject to adverse weather and last-minute technical hitches.

The mission, known as Artemis II, is part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon and eventually build a permanent lunar base to support future missions to Mars. The program was announced in the government's 2017 space policy directive during the first Trump administration but has experienced years of delays and budget overruns.

NASA ended its 30-year space shuttle program in 2011, leaving the agency without its own human launch capability. The current mission will use the Space Launch System rocket, though NASA plans to retire the vehicle. SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's New Glenn heavy-lift rockets are planned to assume Artemis crew and cargo duties afterward. Both companies are also contracted to build the landers that will carry Artemis crews to and from the lunar surface and have constructed or are constructing facilities at Cape Canaveral that employ thousands of people.

Across Florida's Space Coast, hotel marquees displayed messages reading "Go Artemis II astronauts!" T-shirts featuring the NASA logo were being sold on beaches and in supermarkets, and fast-food restaurants were selling out of moon burgers. Hotel room rates were high, and many rooms were unavailable during launch week. The November 2022 launch of Artemis I, the first uncrewed test flight of the lunar program, drew an estimated 200,000 spectators.

Titusville, a waterfront city in Brevard County located directly across the Indian River from the launch pad, has long been connected to the space program. In the 1960s, the city referred to itself as "Rocket City USA." During the early Apollo program era, car dealers leased Corvettes to astronauts for one dollar per year. The city's current slogan is "gateway to nature and space."

Andrew Connors, mayor of Titusville, said the slogan better reflects shifting attitudes toward the region. "If you look at the history of Titusville, it's risen and fallen around NASA. Even in the early Apollo days, families would be huddled around waiting to see the NASA budget get released to see if dad still had a job," Connors said.

Don Thomas, a retired NASA astronaut who flew on four space shuttle missions between 1994 and 1997, regularly travels from Orlando to the Kennedy Space Center visitor center, where he speaks to guests. "You drive anywhere around here, Titusville, Melbourne, Viera, I just see new apartments going up, new schools, new shopping centers. It is really a boom going on, so it's almost like a renaissance in the space business," Thomas said.

Gary Allgire, an 80-year-old Titusville resident and retired NASA engineer who worked on the Apollo and space shuttle programs, now works part-time as a guide at the American Space Museum in Titusville. Space Florida, a state-private partnership that promotes aerospace development, reported a $6 billion boost to the economy from space business last year.