NASA’s Artemis II mission, expected to launch in late 2024, is a significant leap toward a more inclusive human space exploration program. It readies for the first human test flight of the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion space capsule. This groundbreaking mission is scheduled to launch as early as March 6, 2024. It will be a mission of approximately ten days, taking astronauts deeper into space than any humans have traveled in recent history.
The Artemis II crew includes four astronauts: Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Josh Wiseman. Each member is passionate about our mission and offers deep experience and varied backgrounds to their work. With Hanson, Canada is well positioned to make significant contributions to strengthening international collaboration in space. Koch, a proud Michigander, joined the ranks of NASA astronauts in 2013. She is widely known for her pioneering work aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Glover, who like Koch was chosen as a NASA astronaut back in 2013, has flown on previous ISS missions. Wiseman brings 27 years of service in the US Navy to the team. His experience offers us sage leadership, service and operational skills, wise counsel.
While on their ten-day mission, the Artemis II astronauts will be packed together in an area about the size of a phone booth. This environment presents the crew with a rare opportunity to validate and test the Orion spacecraft’s systems. Beyond expanding our knowledge about Mars, they will collect essential environmental data to support deep space exploration. The astronauts will serve as medical test subjects. They will return invaluable data and high-resolution 3D images that will help reveal new insights into human physiology in space.
With the Artemis II mission now paving the way for future crews and lunar landings, U.S. It will mark the first time humans have returned to the Moon since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s. During the crew’s brief stay in space, they’ll make some of the most important assessments on how the Orion spacecraft will perform in low Earth orbit. That way it’s primed for future missions.
Our astronauts will face a fiery re-entry through our atmosphere. Their journey will conclude with a splashdown off the west coast of the United States in the Pacific Ocean. During this phase of their return, the spacecraft’s capabilities will be tested to their limits, while delivering more understanding of re-entry dynamics.
The Artemis program doesn’t stop there. In fact, it’s just getting started. Later missions like Artemis IV and V will begin to set up Gateway, a small space station that’ll orbit around the Moon. This infrastructure will open up avenues for sustained lunar exploration and deeper missions into space.