NASA has announced that it plans to send four astronauts on a ten-day trip around the Moon as early as February 2026, ahead of the previously planned deadline of the end of April. This will be the first manned mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.
This is reported by the BBC.
The Artemis II mission is the second in the Artemis program, which aims to land people on the Moon and establish a permanent presence on its surface. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will not land on the Moon, but they will overcome a record distance from Earth - more than 370,000 kilometers.
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is ready for launch, it remains to complete the preparation of the Orion capsule and conduct final ground tests. The capsule will house the crew during the journey, and its solar panels will provide power during the flight.
What is the Artemis II mission and what are its goals
During the mission, the astronauts will perform a check of the spacecraft's systems and rehearse maneuvers for the future landing on the Moon. Scientific experiments will also be conducted to study the effects of microgravity and space radiation on human organs using organoids grown from the crew's blood.
How will the Artemis II crew return to Earth?
The return to Earth will occur after the lunar orbit: the service module will separate from the capsule, and the astronauts will land using parachutes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
The success of Artemis II will be decisive for the launch of Artemis III, which plans to land people on the Moon. However, even in the event of a perfect mission, NASA does not plan a lunar landing before 2027 due to technical and financial constraints, including the need to use the SpaceX Starship to transport the crew to the lunar surface.
Orion model at the Johnson Space Center in Houston
Recall that in February 2024, the American private company Intuitive Machines Inc. reported the successful landing of its private lander spacecraft called Odysseus in the area of the south pole of the Moon.
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