Artemis Progress and the Moon Mission Timeline

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The first to carry people in half a century

The Space Launch System, a super-heavy rocket, carried the unmanned Orion spacecraft and rose from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 16 at 1:47 p.m. local time. Eight and a half minutes after liftoff, the upper stage joined Orion in the initial orbit, according to NASA’s press briefing. The plan calls for a lunar loop that reaches Earth’s companion within roughly 25 days, with a water landing on day 42 after departure.

Today’s mission marks a milestone for the Artemis program, a project launched in 2017 during the previous U.S. administration. Artemis brings together agencies and partners from Europe, Japan, and Canada. The unmanned Artemis-1 flight of the SLS to the Moon in 2022 served as the program’s first test phase, setting the stage for future crewed missions.

With Orion aboard, Artemis-1 is often described as the first American attempt to reach the Moon in five decades. Yet the true narrative goes back further. In 1972, NASA wrapped up the last crewed Moon mission under Apollo. From the Apollo 17 mission, astronauts Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt, and Ronald Evans marked the sixth landing on the lunar surface. In that light, Artemis-1 can be seen as the first launch in five decades capable of ferrying humans to the Moon.

In recent years, the United States has continued lunar research. For example, the LADEE mission, launched in 2013, studied the Moon’s atmosphere and dust environment. Several NASA instruments and probes remain in lunar orbit, contributing to ongoing scientific work about Earth’s Moon.

What is “Artemis”?

NASA’s Moon exploration program aims to sustain human access to Earth’s natural satellite. The United States has spent the last five years preparing the initial phase, even though the Orion capsule dates back to early 2000s development under a previous program intended to return astronauts to the Moon.

The SLS could be launched to the Moon only after multiple test cycles. The first attempt was scheduled for late August, but fuel-system issues and engine temperatures halted the launch. A second attempt in early September encountered a hydrogen leak, while a third attempt in late September was delayed by a tropical storm sweeping across Florida.

Artemis-1, the heaviest launcher in NASA’s fleet, is designed to perform two additional engine burns as part of the mission profile. Orion will be deployed and detached, then the spacecraft will travel toward the Moon. The plan involves approaching the Moon to within about 100 kilometers in the initial orbit, followed by a lengthy retrograde orbit of around 70,000 kilometers. The lunar portion is expected to span roughly two weeks. On the 25th day in lunar orbit, Orion would complete a final elliptical pass and begin its return to Earth.

During the voyage, Orion will carry biological samples such as yeast, mold, algae, and plant seeds to study potential effects of spaceflight on DNA. Anthropomorphic dummies named Helga and Zohar, equipped with dosimeters, will measure radiation exposure and provide data on how a crew could respond to the space environment.

If Artemis-1 proceeds as planned, NASA will advance to Artemis-2. The next crewed mission is anticipated to launch around May 2024, following a similar route, but with a shorter overall duration of about 10 days and a quick lunar flyby instead of a full orbit. The emphasis will shift to evaluating crew readiness, spacecraft performance, and life-support systems in a condensed timeline.

Phase three envisions four astronauts aboard Orion in lunar orbit in 2025. Two crew members would descend to the Moon’s south pole region and remain on its surface for roughly six days, with the entire mission lasting about a month. The broader Artemis program connects to the Lunar Gateway orbital station, with 2024 and 2025 targeted for initial electric propulsion, habitation, and landing components destined for the Moon. In 2027, a logistics module would join the Gateway under Artemis-4, enabling four astronauts to operate in lunar orbit for about two weeks. The following two phases, planned for 2028, seek to complete the gateway with the remaining modules and enable additional lunar surface landings, including an all-terrain vehicle for surface mobility. These steps progressively expand the human presence around and on the Moon, culminating in a sustained, multi-mission architecture that links exploration, science, and technology demonstrations with a permanently inhabited lunar outpost.

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