Here's how Montrealers can watch NASA's Artemis I space launch on Monday

Invited guests and NASA employees take photos of NASA's Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 17, 2022. -- FILE PHOTO (Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via AP)

UPDATE: Engine problem leads NASA to scrub launch of new moon rocket

For the first time in almost 50 years, space exploration returns to the moon.

On Aug. 29, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will launch its uncrewed Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis I mission around the moon.

The launch will take place in a two-hour window after 8:33 a.m. on Monday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Forty-two days and 2.1 million kilometres later, Orion's orbiting around the moon will end with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near California.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will hold a special event at its Longueuil headquarters for staff and their families in honour of the launch — and Canadians can celebrate with them online.

WHERE TO WATCH ARTEMIS I LIVE

Montrealers can tune into the historic launch on many platforms:

• CSA livestream on YouTube;

• CSA livestream on Facebook;

• NASA livestream on YouTube (starting at 6:30 a.m. ET);

• NASA livestream on Twitch;

• NASA Artemis live updates on Twitter.

Meanwhile, CSA President Lisa Campbell will be in Florida to witness the take-off, joined by Canada's Innovation, Science and Industry Minister, François-Philippe Champagne.

CANADIAN SET FOR THE MOON IN 2024

Canada is going to make history when the Artemis program reaches its next stage.

If the uncrewed test flight goes well on Monday, one lucky Canadian astronaut will orbit the moon in 2024 as part of the Artemis II four-person crew.

"This marks the beginning of a new era, and Canada is right front and centre throughout all of this new phase," said David Saint-Jacques, a Quebec-born CSA astronaut who flew to the International Space Station (ISS) as a flight engineer in 2018.

He is one of four CSA astronauts who might venture off into deep space on the Orion spacecraft.

"In the 70s, as a kid, I was so impressed by the Apollo missions and it really drove me to become an explorer," he told CTV News. "We spent a lot of time learning about living in space at the ISS, and now we’re ready to take all that knowledge to go back to the moon — and settle there for good."

The chosen astronaut would be the first Canadian to travel to deep space, and also the first non-American to be sent on a mission to the moon.

"These historic missions should inspire young Canadians to become the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers," Minister Champagne's office told CTV News.

And these chances didn't just drop from the sky, as Canada is a major contributor to deep space exploration.

The homemade Canadarm3 robotic system, for example, will self-maintain the U.S.-led Lunar Gateway station in the near future. This planned space station will be a vital element of the Artemis program, NASA said.

Canada is also designing a rover for moon exploration and is providing health care and food production technologies for deep space, according to the CSA.

"Fifty years after the end of the Apollo program, humanity is going back to the moon, and Canada is in the front seat of this thrilling journey," Champagne's office added.

And after the moon, the next stop will be Mars. Saint-Jacques said he believes that milestone will come sooner than expected.

"The crew members who are gonna go to Mars, I think they're already born."