Aug. 27 (UPI) -- NASA said it's seeking volunteers to help track its Artemis II Orion spacecraft as the crewed mission travels to the moon and back.

"By offering this opportunity to the broader aerospace community, we can identify available tracking capabilities outside the government," Kevin Coggins, NASA's deputy associate administrator for SCaN at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.

NASA will send astronauts to explore the moon via Artemis for scientific discovery, economic benefits and ultimately to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars, according to the nation's space agency.

The Artemis II test flight will be a space launch of the agency's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft targeted for no later than April 2026.

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