NASA’s Artemis II mission is about to become one of the most significant steps forward in space exploration. It will carry the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crewed spacecraft. The mission will be launching from Kennedy Space Center and will be about 10 days in total length. It’s during this time that the astronauts will travel farthest into deep space than any other human has traveled before.
Scheduled potential launch dates for Artemis II include February 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11; March 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11; and April 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6. During the mission, Orion’s life-support, propulsion, power and navigation systems will be tested. It will then travel to a location tens of thousands of kilometers past the Moon. This ambitious voyage will feature a stare down with the Moon up close and set the stage for the return of humans to the lunar surface.
The Artemis II crew features four diverse astronauts. They’ll be living in the equivalent of roughly nine cubic meters total space during their entire mission. Included in that group is from the Canadian Space Agency, who will act as a mission specialist. The astronauts will have mission-style patches on their arms and chests. These patches will feature U.S. and Canadian flags side-by-side, a symbol of the cooperation between countries that has made this historic venture possible.
With Artemis II taking the first steps toward an eventual, historic human landing on the lunar surface, that would be the first time since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s. Following this flight, Artemis IV and V will begin the construction of Gateway. This partially crewed space station will orbit the Moon and serve as a key nexus point for future crewed lunar missions.
As the Artemis II crew prepares for their historic journey, they will encounter unique challenges as they venture into space. In fact, on this mission, radiation will be higher than what astronauts feel while living on the International Space Station. NASA has maintained that these levels do not pose an unsafe risk to the astronauts.
As soon as the crew finishes their work, they will return to home soil. They will withstand a fiery plunge back to earth, through the atmosphere, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, just off of America’s west coast. This important mission will show the world what Orion is really made of and it will pave the way with data for future missions.