The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is preparing the returning of humans to the surface of the moon which celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landings. NASA is betting on its ambitious Artemis program to return a man and a woman to the surface of the moon. If accomplished, it will mark the first time, a woman will have ever set foot on the moon.
What is the Artemis program?
- The Artemis program is an ongoing spaceflight program being developed by the NASA, other U.S. commercial aerospace companies, and international partners such as European Space Agency for manned flight.
- It has a stated goal of landing “the first woman and the next man” on the Moon’s south pole region by the year 2024.
- The Artemis program will be the first step in establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon and will lay the foundation for private aerospace companies to develop a lunar economy, and eventually landing humans on Mars.
- With Artemis (named after a Greek goddess), NASA aims to explore regions of the never before visited regions of the Moon and test the new technology that will one day be used in the further human exploration of the space system.
- The Artemis will rely on Space Launch System, a super-heavy rocket also currently under development by NASA.
What NASA is planning ahead?
3 manned Artemis missions (4-6) would be launched yearly between 2025-2027 to test in situ resource utilization and nuclear power on the lunar surface with a partially reusable lander.
The Artemis 7 would deliver a lunar outpost, known as the Lunar Surface Asset in 2028 which will be used by the crew of the Artemis 8 for an extended crewed lunar surface mission.