NASA’s Artemis II mission prepares to launch on a fantastic journey. That will send astronauts farther into space than anyone has ever gone! The mission is scheduled to launch in early April 2024. Its goal is to lay the groundwork for humanity’s long-awaited return to the lunar surface, our first visit since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s.
The upcoming Artemis II mission, crewed for the first time, will be an especially important milestone. This will be the first crewed flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. Four astronauts will call the Orion crew module home during this 10-day mission. They’ll fill up the sensitive space environment, taking up almost nine cubic meters of physical space, nearly half of the design’s total expressive volume.
The crew would be releasd reclined in two rows of two, facing up with the backs against the ground. This panda-esque configuration is meant to maximize their comfort and utility throughout the mission. As they travel beyond low Earth orbit, these astronauts will be indispensable medical test subjects. On board, their experiences will offer invaluable data and imagery for educational researchers back here on Earth.
This mission, Artemis II, will be a very important and detailed test of how well Orion performs in orbit. This evaluation is a substantial aspect of its goals. The astronauts will navigate a figure-eight orbital trajectory, manually flying the capsule during its time in Earth’s orbit to practice steering and alignment for future lunar landings. Rounding out this mission, the mission will send the crew thousands of kilometers beyond the Moon. There, they’re going to test out critical life-support, propulsion, power, and navigation systems.
NASA has narrowed the list of potential launch dates down to April 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, 2024. The astronauts will have a very jerky ride as they re-enter through Earth’s atmosphere. Their voyage will conclude with a return splashdown off the west coast in the Pacific Ocean.
The Artemis II mission is part of a larger initiative aimed at establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon. NASA’s Artemis V mission, scheduled for late in 2028, would be a step toward making that happen by leading to a fourth lunar landing.