​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. The Artemis II crew launched into the history books Wednesday, blasting off aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft on a mission around the moon — the first crewed journey beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch of the U.S., and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, boarded the 322-foot Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B on Wednesday afternoon, just hours before launching at [insert time rocket lifted off].. The Artemis II crew is expected to travel around the moon and back, marking the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.. Although the mission will not land on the lunar surface, it is designed to carry the four-person crew farther from Earth than any crewed mission since the Apollo era.. NASA RACES TO BUILD MOON BASE AS US CHALLENGES CHINA IN NEW SPACE RACE. NASA describes the Orion spacecraft as the most powerful launch system rocket it has ever built.. Standing 322 feet tall, the rocket will send the spacecraft and its crew into deep space for the first time, testing critical systems ahead of proposed future lunar landing missions.. Now that the crew is in space, its members are expected to spend several days in space, including a multi-day journey around the far side of the moon before returning to Earth for a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.. NASA CHIEF VOWS FOUR MOON MISSIONS BEFORE TRUMP’S TERM ENDS IN AMBITIOUS 2028 TIMELINE. NASA intended to launch Artemis II in February, but technical issues discovered during testing forced the agency to push it back. Such issues included fuel and helium leaks that required additional repairs to the Space Launch System rocket.. Artemis II follows the uncrewed Artemis I test flight and is considered a major step toward future missions, including Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the moon.. NASA said previously that the Artemis program is intended to support long-term lunar exploration and lay the groundwork for human missions to Mars.. NASA RETURNS HUMANS TO DEEP SPACE AFTER OVER 50 YEARS WITH FEBRUARY ARTEMIS II MOON MISSION. President Donald Trump established the Artemis program during his first term in 2017 as part of a broader push to return American astronauts to the moon.. Hours before the rocket launch, Trump celebrated the Artemis II mission.. “America is going back to the Moon!,” he said. “America doesn’t just compete, we DOMINATE, and the whole World is watching. God bless our incredible Astronauts, God bless NASA, and God bless the Greatest Nation ever to exist, the United States of America!”. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. House Speaker Mike Johnson also praised the crew and NASA on Wednesday.. “Praying for the safety and success of the Artemis II crew and @NASA as they undertake a mission that will carry humanity farther into space than we have gone in over half a century,” he said. “I had the privilege  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. More than half a century after NASA’s final Apollo mission, astronauts prepared Wednesday to return to the moon, but this time, they will not land.. Instead, four crew members aboard Artemis II will fly past the moon on a 10-day mission, traveling farther into space than any humans since the Apollo era.. The mission is designed as a crewed lunar flyby, a critical test of NASA’s deep-space systems before attempting future landings, according to NASA.. Launched aboard the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft will first enter Earth’s orbit before following a precise path known as a “free-return” trajectory.. NASA BEGINS INFRASTRUCTURE OVERHAUL UNDER ISAACMAN AS TRUMP PUSHES AMBITIOUS SPACE EXPLORATION GOALS. Scientists said the route uses the combined gravitational forces of Earth and the moon to carry the spacecraft around the far side of the moon and safely back home without requiring major course corrections.. Artemis II will mark the first time astronauts fly aboard both the Orion spacecraft and the SLS rocket, making it a key demonstration of NASA’s human deep-space capabilities.. The mission will test how well the spacecraft and its systems work with astronauts on board, including navigation, life support and communication far from Earth.. NASA RACES TO BUILD MOON BASE AS US CHALLENGES CHINA IN NEW SPACE RACE. It also will give NASA a better understanding of how crews operate during deep space travel, officials said.. Astronauts will take part in experiments during the flight, including one called A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response (AVATAR), which uses “organ-on-a-chip” technology to study how radiation and weightlessness affect the body.. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. NASA claims Artemis II is a necessary step before attempting a moon landing on a future mission.. By proving the spacecraft and crew can safely travel to deep space and back, the mission moves the agency closer to returning humans to the lunar surface and eventually sending astronauts to Mars.  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. Authorities arrested a woman at a home near The Villages after the homeowner told deputies the woman had been staying there without permission and sold a washer and dryer from the residence, according to an arrest affidavit.. Candice Meshelle Mackey, 40, was charged with grand theft and dealing in stolen property after investigators said a neighbor told them he bought the washer-and-dryer set from her for $150 and another witness identified the appliances as ones previously kept inside the home.. According to an arrest affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, the homeowner, identified as Denise Lombardi, told police that the appliance came with the home and belonged to the residence.. She also claimed that Mackey was a squatter and had repeatedly been told to leave, but continued to stay at the home. The single family home, in Summerfield, is near The Villages, a sprawling 55+ housing community in Central Florida.. REPEAT OFFENDER ALLEGEDLY STABS PREGNANT MOM IN RANDOM GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT ATTACK ‘WITH A STEAK KNIFE’. The owner told police, according to the affidavit, that she had gone to the residence a couple of months ago and realized Mackey had been squatting there.. READ THE AFFIDAVIT – MOBILE USERS CLICK HERE. Lombardi’s nephew, identified as James, who was paying rent at the home, invited Mackey to stay with him without permission.. Despite being ordered from the house in December, she still had not left and was served a notice to vacate by March 31.. A neighbor first alerted the homeowner after he bought a Frigidaire washer and dryer that Mackey was selling for $150.. CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS. The buyer later told law enforcement that his washer and dryer stopped working, so when he noticed Mackey moving out, he bought what he thought was hers for $150. Once he found out the set did not belong to her, he tried to return it and get his money back without success, the report said.. GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP. Mackey told deputies she had purchased the appliances after being released from jail, but investigators said she gave conflicting accounts of when she bought them and could not provide proof they were hers.. FOLLOW US ON X. She was arrested on charges of grand theft, a property value of $750 to $5,000, and dealing in stolen property. She was booked in the Marion County Jail and released after posting $5,000 bond.. GOT A TIP?  

​A man accused of trying to push a stranger into the path of an oncoming train in Seattle is now facing an attempted murder charge, after the moment was captured on surveillance video. The incident unfolded at the busy Northgate light rail station, where a man was on the platform waiting for a northbound train when, investigators say, the suspect, Elisio Melendez, suddenly stepped up behind him and tried to shove him onto the tracks as the train approached. Prosecutors say the attack appeared deliberate, with surveillance footage showing Melendez “carefully timed his assault,” waiting until the train entered the station before attempting to push the victim, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The victim managed to catch himself at the last second, avoiding a potentially deadly fall, but the encounter didn’t end there. Authorities say video shows the suspect trying to push the man a second time before running off.

“This story ends with great work by our Sound Transit deputies who took a dangerous person off the streets,” the King County Sheriff’s Office said, describing the images from the incident as “quite chilling.” Though Melendez initially fled, investigators say a combination of surveillance video and thorough detective work led them to him at a nearby mental health community facility where he lived. Investigators went to a residence on March 24, where an employee identified him and officers took him into custody, according to local media reports. Clothing matching what the suspect was wearing during the incident was recovered from his room, further tying him to the attack. He was arrested and booked into the King County Correctional Facility, where records show he is being held on $750,000 bail on an attempted second-degree murder charge and is awaiting trial. King County prosecutors told Fox News Digital the charge was formally filed March 26 and confirmed the case remains ongoing. A court-ordered competency evaluation is now underway to determine whether Melendez is able to understand the charges and stand trial, with an arraignment to be scheduled once that process is complete.

The case also highlights a troubling history. Prosecutors said Melendez was previously charged in a 2019 domestic violence assault case, but was ultimately found not competent to stand trial and not restorable after multiple court-ordered treatment periods—the maximum allowed under state law. That case was dismissed in February 2021, and he was ordered into civil commitment at Western State Hospital under state supervision, where he remained until January 2022.  

​NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!. Chicago’s mayor in a Tuesday news conference doubled down on recent comments that sparked backlash in the wake of the killing of 18-year-old Loyola University Chicago student Sheridan Gorman.. At a “No Kings” rally in the Windy City on Saturday, Mayor Brandon Johnson vowed to stop “assaults” on immigrants. The comments came on the same day that Gorman was buried, drawing fierce criticism from some. The suspect in her murder is Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an illegal immigrant from Colombia.. “We have [to] end the assaults against immigrants,” Johnson said at the rally. “We have to get active. First of all, we have to make sure that we’re participating in our democratic process. We’ve already seen election shift around this country, so things are happening. We have signed multiple executive orders to force ICE out of the city of Chicago.”. Asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether he would apologize to Gorman’s parents, Johnson ducked the question.. FATHER OF SLAIN 20-YEAR-OLD KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ISSUES STARK WARNING AFTER SHERIDAN GORMAN KILLING. “I will again acknowledge the tragedy of the loss of life here,” Johnson said. “You know, look, burying a child is something that no parent should have to do, especially as someone who is a parent. The tragedy that occurred is one that, quite frankly — it challenges us to do better to ensure that we are protecting people — and you know, as far as the call for no kings, what I said, and I still stand by this, that we do have to protect working people. We do have to ensure that the immigrant community is not being assaulted.”. “Violating people’s Constitutional rights does not make us safer,” the mayor continued.. He was asked the same question in a news conference last week, and also answered indirectly.. FACIAL RECOGNITION HELPED CRACK ALLEGED STUDENT MURDER BY ILLEGAL MIGRANT – NEW BILL COULD BAN IT: RET. COP. “Will you take this opportunity to apologize to Sheridan’s parents for the policies that you have promoted, that have directly caused her death? That suspect would not be in the city, would not be in the country, but for your policies. Will you take this opportunity to apologize?” a reporter asked.. “Once again, I believe that we’re all grieving the loss of Sheridan and other folks who have lost their lives because of senseless violence,” Johnson responded. “And let’s just be very clear, between the SAFE-T Act and the welcoming city ordinance, the welcoming city ordinance was passed 40 years ago by the first Black mayor in the history of Chicago, and the SAFE-T Act was passed under the governor at that time, who was a Republican.”. Medina-Medina is accused by prosecutors of hiding behind a lighthouse before running toward Gorman and her friends, firing his weapon indiscriminately. The alleged murder took place in the early morning hours of March 19.. ANGEL PARENTS SLAM ILLINOIS SANCTUARY LAWS AFTER ‘PREVENTABLE’ TRAGEDY IN STUDENT’S DEATH. The ill