NASA officials revealed today that the agency’s Artemis 2 mission, which will see a crew of four astronauts travel around the Moon and back, could launch as soon as February 5, roughly two months earlier than previously anticipated. Lawmakers are also becoming increasingly concerned that China could beat the United States back to the Moon as the space agency’s Artemis program continues to lag behind. “Let me emphasize that this is a test flight, and so the activities that we do together, we are going to learn from them,” Hawkins said during today’s mission update. After years of delays and setbacks, the Artemis 2 mission is finally starting to take shape. The agency announced last week that its Space Launch System rocket is ready to fly.