NASA says America is "absolutely back" in the space race, rushing to beat China to the moon and build a lunar base under Trump-era Artemis program.

While Apollo was a ‘Lewis and Clark-like’ scientific expedition, planetary research professor James Head III said, Artemis has bigger ambitions: establishing a permanent base on the moon.

After its historic 10-day flight to the moon, Artemis II astronauts splashed down off the coast of California on Friday night.

The Artemis program was officially named and announced by NASA in May 2019, when Artemis III was intended to land “the first woman and next man” on the lunar South Pole in 2024. Since then, the uncrewed Artemis I test flight launched in 2022, and Artemis II is complete.

The USS John P. Murtha — a transport ship longer than two football fields — arrived at Naval Base San Diego playing Elton John’s beloved song “Rocket Man” over its speakers, tapping into the public’s deep interest in the historic 10-day mission.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says the Artemis III crew will be announced soon — and that the next mission will return humans to the moon.

Amid what some call a new space race, the historic journey around the moon tested a spacecraft that had never before been flown by crew and collected data for future lunar ventures.

Tiny lab-grown replicas of human tissue are helping scientists understand what deep space really does to the body.