All right, no matter how old you are, you've been around for some pretty exciting moments in the space race, even if it was just buzz light here.

But this week, we're witnessing a whole new era.

The Artemis II is flying all the way around the moon, taking a peek at its dark side, and then returning, having traveled farther than any other manned spaceflight ever and preparing us for the next big step.

I'm Patty Steele. Where did it all begin? And where is it all headed? That's next on the backstory.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

The backstory is back.

The Artemis II blasted off this week, and this mission feels pretty different because of the passage of time.

The last time humans left Earth's orbit, truly left it and headed into deep space, was

December of 1972.

The world was wearing bell bottoms and watching Watergate unfold as Apollo 17 returned home.

And then, we just stopped.

For more than 50 years, humanity stayed close to home in low Earth orbit.

The International Space Station became our outpost. Space

shuttles came and went, impressive, but kind of routine until some terrible tragedies.

Rockets launched and satellites filled the skies. Private companies turned space into business.

But deep space, the moon, and beyond, that became history until now. It's NASA's

first trip beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years as the space agency readies for a manned

trip to the moon in 28. The trip this week will be the farthest flight into space ever.

In 1970, Apollo 13 traveled 248,655 miles.

Artemis will break that record, traveling 252,799 miles away from Earth as it passes the back of the moon. Our national obsession began 65 years ago when a Russian cosmonaut became the first human in space,

and that lit a fire under the U.S. race for the moon with the Apollo missions.

Our intense fascination with space travel reached its apex back in 1969, 57 years ago.

...