Fifty years after his Apollo 16 mission to the moon, retired NASA astronaut Charlie Duke says he’s ready for the U.S. to get back to lunar exploration.

Part of that effort, Duke said Friday, will come in the form of the Artemis program, which includes NASA’s upcoming flight to the moon using its new Space Launch System rocket. The first of the enormous missiles are supposed to blast off without crew later this year, with crewed flights planned subsequently.

“With Artemis, NASA will be focused on deep space, to the moon and beyond, and I’m excited about that,” Duke told The Associated Press in an interview in Columbia.

Duke, 86, is one of four surviving moonwalkers from the Apollo program, taking Apollo 16 to the lunar surface in 1972. He has been making the rounds to mark the 50th anniversary of his voyage, recently taking a trip to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to visit his spaceship, which made the next-to-the-last U.S. mission to land on the moon. Duke also noted that he’s encouraged by the commercial partnerships developed around space exploration, like Space X and Blue Origin. Those options, he said, “make space available for more people and more science and engineering and unmanned stuff.

The late John Young was first out of the lander and walked on the moon with Duke. Ken Mattingly orbited the moon in the command module, nicknamed “Casper.”

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Alice Jane
Alice is the Chief Editor with relevant experience of three years, Alice has founded Galaxy Reporters. She has a keen interest in the field of science. She is the pillar behind the in-depth coverages of Science news. She has written several papers and high-level documentation.

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