NASA is leading the way to the Moon, but the military won't be far behind

"The US military has always been part of NASA's human spaceflight program. The first astronauts were nearly all military pilots, and two of the four crew members set to fly around the Moon on NASA's Artemis II mission were Navy test pilots before joining the astronaut corps."

"The Space Force will play an important role in the launch. A range crew from the Space Force will track the SLS rocket as it arcs over the Atlantic Ocean. Their primary job will be ensuring public safety, with the unenviable responsibility of sending a destruct signal to the rocket if it flies off course."

"An Air Force rescue team is on standby to rapidly deploy and retrieve the Artemis II astronauts if there's an in-flight abort. Assuming everything goes well, the Navy has the charge of recovering the Orion spacecraft and its four astronauts at the end of their nine-day flight around the Moon."

The US military has historically supported NASA's human spaceflight program, with Artemis II marking the first crewed mission to the Moon since 1972. The mission features a crew of four, including Navy test pilots. The Space Force will track the launch for public safety, while an Air Force rescue team is on standby for emergencies. The Navy will recover the Orion spacecraft after the mission, continuing the military's longstanding involvement in space operations.

Read at Ars Technica