BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – American astronauts will soon head back to the moon for the first time in fifty years, but before they go, they have to stay in a safe place on the ground before the launches.

It will be the astronauts' home away from home.


What You Need To Know

  •  The crew quarters will be called the  Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

  • In the two weeks before a flight, astronauts will dine on fres meals and get some downtime in a living room space

  • NASA is targeting August for its Artemis-1 uncrewed flight test

A place in quarantine called the crew quarters at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building where they stay before their historic missions – complete with workspace, a kitchen and sleeping quarters.

In the two weeks before a flight, astronauts would dine on freshly prepared meals, and get some downtime in a living room type space.

It's a stay planned to be made as smooth and stress free as possible, but launch day is when the excitement really builds.

Astronauts make their way to the iconic suit room, where they will don their spacesuits for flight.

"There's a lot of excitement going on. They've been working toward that mission for years, and they are finally excited to go," says Lauren Lunde of NASA Flight Crew Support.

It’s an area that has changed little since the Apollo Program, with equipment that still works after 60 years.

"We haven't changed much," Lunde says. "We want people to see this is a historic area that has been here since the 1960's."

And soon, astronauts will head back to the moon, and then one day, Mars, will suit up right here too.​

Right now NASA is targeting August for its Artemis-1 uncrewed flight test.

In the coming years, it will launch astronauts back to the moon.