More than three years because the Orion capsule’s inaugural voyage, NASA is about to shoot the capsule into house once more — however this time 4 astronauts will journey it to the moon.
Artemis II — which mission leaders say may occur as early as two weeks from now in February — is a vital apply run for NASA’s {hardware} that turns Artemis I‘s uncrewed success into a totally human mission.
“While Artemis I was a great success, there are new systems and new capabilities that we will be demonstrating on Artemis II, including the life support systems, the display capabilities, software, and et cetera,” mentioned Lakiesha Hawkins, NASA’s performing deputy affiliate administrator for exploration programs improvement. “This is a stepped approach, and all that we learned from Artemis II, we will build upon that to prepare us for our first crewed landing on the surface of the moon for Artemis III.”
Though the crew will not ever depart the confines of the spaceship throughout their 10-day mission, the 4 members will maintain a spot in historical past as the primary house vacationers of Artemis, the brand new exploration program named after Apollo’s goddess twin. It’s the start of NASA’s formidable plan to ship astronauts to Mars by the late 2030s, getting ready for a world far much less hospitable than Earth.
This second Artemis mission — the primary crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years — raises the stakes. Instead of simply proving that the Space Launch System rocket and capsule can survive, NASA should present that the autos can hold folks alive on a ten‑day journey across the moon and again. The mission will take a look at crew controls and emergency choices that future astronauts will depend on when NASA tries to land on the lunar floor and ultimately push on towards Mars.
Artemis 2: Next steps for NASA’s moon rocket after historic roll to pad
Artemis II will carry Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Hammock Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Hansen, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, will probably be the primary worldwide crewmate on a lunar mission.
The astronauts will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop the 322-foot mega moon rocket, loop across the moon on a roughly 4‑day outbound journey, fly about 4,600 miles past it, and return to a splashdown off the coast of California.
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The Artemis II mission will take 4 astronauts on a 10-day voyage across the moon.
Credit: NASA infographic
That distance may set a brand new human spaceflight file, exceeding the one set by Apollo 13, which traveled 248,655 miles from Earth in 1970. Whether Artemis II reaches its deliberate 257,000 miles depends upon when precisely the mission launches.
Koch mentioned she had just lately met Fred Haise, now in his 90s and the final surviving Apollo 13 crew member.
“He said, ‘I heard you’re going to beat our record,’ and it made me realize maybe he’s paying attention to it more than we are. I think that sometimes when we talk about superlatives, we may inadvertently ignore the real story of what’s going on in our mission,” she mentioned. “It’s not about farthest, first, fastest, longest. It’s about the teamwork.”
A serious change from the 25-day Artemis I mission in 2022 is the trail the crew will take. Artemis II will use what NASA calls a “free return trajectory,” which suggests as soon as Orion heads towards the moon, gravity from Earth and the moon will naturally bend the spaceship’s course again residence, even when later engine burns fail.
Another huge distinction comes proper after launch. Before committing the astronauts to deep house, NASA will park Orion in a excessive Earth orbit that takes a couple of day to finish. That offers the workforce time to completely test the spacecraft whereas it stays comparatively near residence.
“When we get off the planet, we might come right back home, we might spend three or four days around Earth, we might go to the moon,” Wiseman mentioned. “That’s where we want to go, but it is a test mission, and we are ready for every scenario.”
During this part, the crew will carry out a take a look at of how Orion handles when astronauts steer it — apply for later missions that should dock with a lunar lander. Once the ship separates from the higher stage, they’re going to flip Orion round and manually fly close to the spent propulsion part, utilizing cameras and home windows to strategy and again away.
From left, NASA pilot Victor Glover, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, NASA astronaut Christina Hammock Koch, and NASA Commander Reid Wiseman climb the crew entry arm on the launchpad for an Artemis II take a look at.
Credit: NASA / Frank Michaux
For the return residence, NASA has tweaked its unique re-entry plan after discovering harm to Orion’s heatshield following Artemis I. Engineers have since adjusted the flight path so the capsule doesn’t plow by means of the environment as laborious or as lengthy. By aiming nearer to San Diego, California, versus Baja California, Mexico, they’ll shorten the most popular a part of the journey.
While the company has dedicated to launching Artemis II no later than April 2026 and is working towards a doable February window, which opens Feb. 6, mission leaders pressured that schedule won’t ever outrun security.
“I’ve got a good eye for launch fever,” mentioned John Honeycutt, head of the mission administration workforce. “I’m not going to tell the agency that I’m ready to go fly until I think we’re ready to go fly.”