KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Brevard County is expecting hundreds of thousands of people beginning over the weekend to see the historic Artemis launch, which is scheduled for 8:33 a.m. Monday.

The rocket will send an uncrewed Orion capsule to the moon, setting the stage for the United States to send astronauts back to the lunar surface for the first time in five decades.

With the massive crowds comes traffic tie-ups and concerns and closures for some areas near the launch site.

According to the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization, the heaviest traffic is expected between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. EDT on Monday.

Along with the launch, five cruise ships will be docked at Port Canaveral, bringing an extra 100,000 people to town.

Starting overnight Sunday, Playalinda Beach and the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge will be closed.

The excitement being generated by Artemis is getting close to the enthusiasm of the Apollo days, said former NASA astronaut Doug Hurley, who flew on the last Space Shuttle mission in 2011 and the first crewed Space X Dragon flight to the International Space Station in 2020.

"People will get to take a few minutes to see this thing launch," Hurley said. "It really is going to have an impact. We hope as many people can see it in person as possible because there's nothing like seeing a rocket launch in person."

Another traffic factor will be NASCAR’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, which will be run Saturday night at Daytona Beach. The race is expected to end around midnight.

Some race fans could turn into launch fans and come down to watch Artemis soar to space.​