NASA’s Artemis II mission is poised to take flight in March or early April 2024, marking a significant milestone in human space exploration. This mission will include the first crewed flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. The mission aims to transport astronauts further into space than ever before while testing critical systems for future lunar exploration.
The Artemis II mission will last approximately 10 days and will involve four astronauts: Jeremy Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman. Throughout the trip, the crew members will be shared living quarters of just over nine cubic meters. They’ll be seated (reclined) in two rows of two, facing up, with their backs to the floor.
That crew is new and it’s going to be an exciting manned lunar flyby. They will travel to a destination nearly 300,000 kilometers past the Moon. This trajectory will give NASA the opportunity to test the Orion spacecraft’s life-support, propulsion, power, and navigation systems. Passing these tests is critical for upcoming missions. One of these missions, Artemis III, is poised to be a big deal — it will feature a lunar landing.
NASA is getting ready for the Artemis II crew’s splashdown back on Earth. They will return home with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, just off of the west coast of the United States. This operation will inform us with key data on how well the spacecraft can re-enter, as well as its performance across the entire mission.
Artemis II has an expected launch window between March 6 and April 6. This tight timeline has the potential to produce awesome experiences for NASA to deliver on their bold mission. NASA has some impressive plans for after Artemis II! They are preparing to go even deeper with Artemis III and IV, establishing a long-term presence on the Moon by constructing Gateway, a small space station that will orbit the Moon.
The Artemis program has a stated goal of prioritizing international cooperation. It’s designed to bring more countries into the endeavor of sustaining a human presence on and around the Moon for the long term. Led by NASA’s Apollo program alumni, this initiative is designed to bolster American and global support for a future, sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. We haven’t taken this big step since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s.