There are several comparisons being made between the flight of Artemis II and the first manned mission around the Moon of Apollo 8 in 1968.
However, unlike Artemis II, Apollo 8 orbited the Moon while Artemis II will sling shot around it.
Apollo 8 is remembered for the crew reading from the Book of Genesis on Christmas Eve.
A Texas woman sued NASA in the aftermath of the Genesis reading aboard Apollo 8. That lawsuit was eventually thrown out.
The Artemis II mission patch drew inspiration from the famous Earthrise photo taken by the Apollo 8 astronauts caught on voice recorder seeing the Earth come up from behind the Moon for the first time.
Artemis II, like Apollo 8, was the first time humans were launched on a new rocket for the first time.
Artemis II, like Apollo 8, also will rely on the safety of a single spacecraft during its entire journey.
