With NASA’s Artemis II mission expected to launch in early 2024, we’re on the cusp of a new era in human space exploration. This mission is expected to take ten days. It will take astronauts deeper into space than any human has ever traveled. It will be the first crewed flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion spacecraft.
The Artemis II mission will also launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In fact, its launch window opens February 6 through 11, March 6 through 11, or April 1 through 6. For her part, NASA is preparing for a wet dress rehearsal at the end of this month. During this critical prelaunch test, the rocket will be fueled to ensure that all systems are operating as they should.
During this ambitious mission, a crew of four astronauts will occupy the Orion spacecraft’s crew module, which constitutes about half of the spacecraft’s total structure. They will spend their time in approximately nine cubic meters of living space, testing various systems integral for future missions to the Moon and beyond.
One of the primary objectives on Artemis II’s agenda will be conducting a lunar flyby. This will provide the crew the opportunity to view the Moon up close before they travel to a point thousands of kilometers beyond it. In addition to those objectives, this mission will feature the first manual flight of the Orion capsule while in Earth orbit. Astronauts will practice cargo maneuvers and aligning the spacecraft for future Moon landings — key maneuvers that will be used on later missions.
Throughout their ten-day journey, the crew will rigorously test Orion’s life-support, propulsion, power, and navigation systems, ensuring that everything functions seamlessly for future explorations. With splashdown of Dragon Endeavour in the Pacific Ocean, the mission will return to where it started—an extraordinary first for NASA and its partners.
NASA’s larger Artemis program is working to returning humans to the Moon and eventually sending them to Mars. Though within this framework, Artemis II provides the blueprint for coming crewed missions. European astronauts will become regular participants in later Artemis missions, with Japan claiming seats for its astronauts on the voyages.