NASA’s Artemis II mission is preparing for a groundbreaking launch, foreshadowing an epic expedition into deep space. This mission will be the first crewed flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. Its goal is to carry astronauts deeper into space than any human has ever traveled before. Artemis II will be an approximately 10-day mission. Only four astronauts will dive into this groundbreaking expedition.
During their travels, the Artemis II crew will make themselves at home in around nine cubic meters of livable space aboard the Orion spacecraft. This spacecraft consists of a crew module and a service module, which are approximately equal in size. The crew module is the largest piece—it is roughly half the Orion spacecraft as a whole. It’s an unassuming but critical part of the monstrous 98-meter (320-foot) SLS rocket. While in space, the astronauts will push the Orion’s systems to their limits, putting life-support, propulsion, power and navigation systems to the test.
The mission’s trajectory would send the crew on a looping figure-of-eight path, taking them out thousands of kilometers beyond the Moon. This will give them the opportunity to thoroughly test how the Orion spacecraft will operate in a deep space environment. Our astronauts are certainly getting excited about their return. They’ll face the even more daunting challenge of re-entering Earth’s atmosphere to complete their flight with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the United States.
While the Artemis II mission is an important step, it is but one of many on NASA’s long-term goal. Its goal is to land humans on the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s. After Artemis II, Artemis IV and V will begin the assembly of Gateway. The new, small space station will orbit the Moon and serve as both a home for astronauts and a launching pad for future lunar explorations.
With such an ambitious mission, there are stringent and limited launch windows. There are opportunities to take action on March 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11, as well as April 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. NASA is preparing for an amazing new adventure into the heavens. Yet the Artemis II mission is a triumphant beacon of what human beings can achieve, to venture forth in exploration and discovery.
