When NASA was sending astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, the road to space ran through south Louisiana and Mississippi. When they return there in 2024, more than 50 years after the last Apollo mission, they'll do so in a capsule atop a powerful new rocket — both built at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans.

The space program's Artemis program won't end at the moon, but will reach even further by the 2030s — to Mars, 33.8 million miles from Earth, NASA's Josh Whitehead said during a news conference at Michoud Wednesday.

Read more here: NASA will return to the moon, looks to Mars in journey that starts in New Orleans

Pictured empty, the Vertical Assembly Center uses a circumferential welding machine to assemble liquid hydrogen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks with the friction stir welding process at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

An Artemis rocket model with the Orion crew capsule, left, is displayed with close ups of what the top of the rocket looks like at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Amanda Gertjejansen and Ashley Guidry speak in front of the second Artemis rocket during a media tour at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. The second Artemis rocket will have two astronauts aboard the Orion capsule and will orbit the moon. The third Artemis rocket, which is also being assembled in New Orleans, plans to land on the moon in 2025. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

The Orion capsule's conical adapter is constructed for the Artemis 3 journey at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Craig Betbeze, head of Strategic Communications, gives a thumbs up before giving a safety briefing at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Jennifer Boland-Masterson, Director of Boeing Production Operations at Michoud, speaks about the upcoming Artemis journeys at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Liquid tank domes are constructed for Artemis 3 and 4 flights at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Luis Saucedo, NASA Orion Program Deputy Contract Account Manager for the Crew and Service Module and Joe Arves, Lockheed Martin Deputy Chief Engineer for the Orion Program, sit next to a model of the Artemis rocket at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Lonnie Dutreix, Director of the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility, speaks about the upcoming Artemis rockets that are being  built at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift ff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Joe Arves, Lockheed Martin Deputy Chief Engineer for the Orion Program, explains the Artemis rocket model and how the Orion crew capsule functions at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Tanks for liquid hydrogen are built for the Artemis 3 flight for when astronauts land on the moon, at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Liquid tank domes are constructed for Artemis 3 and 4 flights at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

A person works in front of an Orion capsule's aft structure at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was  made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

A connector to go between the liquid oxygen and the liquid hydrogen tanks is constructed at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Pictured empty, Vertical Assembly Center uses a circumferential welding machine to assemble liquid hydrogen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks with the friction stir welding process at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

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