FLORIDA   –   NASA is targeting early March to launch a crew around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, in what would be humankind’s furthest trip into space. The Artemis II mission will see four astronauts embark on a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon and back to Earth, paving the way for a future lunar landing. Nasa set the earliest launch date of March 6 (early on March 7 in the UK) following a successful “wet dress rehearsal” – a critical pre-launch test where the rocket is filled with fuel and taken through the countdown sequence. It was the Artemis team’s second attempt at a practice run at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  “Every night I look up a the Moon and I see it and I get real excited because I can feel she’s calling us and we’re ready,” Nasa’s Lori Glaze told a news conference on Friday. “The excitement for Artemis II is really, really starting to build, we can really start to feel it. It’s coming.” The first rehearsal, which took place in early February, ended early because of a hydrogen fuel leak at the launch pad. Glaze said issues including with seals and filters had now been remedied. “Yesterday we were able to fully tank the SLS rocket within the planned time line […] we also succesfully demonstrated the launch countdown,” she said. Three Americans – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch – and one Canadian, Jeremy Hansen, make up the Artemis II crew.  Glaze said the crew were excited following the successful rehearsal and would go into quarantine later on Friday.  They’ll begin their journey on Nasa’s mega Moon rocket: the 98m-tall (322ft) Space Launch System, or SLS.  It’s only flown once before in November 2022 for the Artemis I mission, but this was with no people onboard.  The crew will be strapped into the Orion capsule, which is located at the top of the rocket.