NASA’s Moon mission: All you need to know

The Artemis programme is NASA's strategy to send people back to the Moon as a first step toward a future trip to Mars. The aim of Artemis is to land the first woman and person of colour on the lunar surface.

An unmanned Artemis rocket is scheduled to make its first test flight. The Apollo programme was referenced in the choice of the name Artemis. In Greek mythology, Artemis was Apollo's twin sister and a goddess connected to the Moon. Twelve men walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.

Artemis 1

The Orion crew capsule and the 322-foot Space Launch System rocket are being tested during Artemis 1. Blastoff will launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on August 29 at 6:03 PM Indian time (12:33 GMT).

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On the flight, sensors-equipped mannequins will replace the crew members and measure the degrees of vibration, acceleration, and radiation. Before landing in the Pacific Ocean, Orion will orbit the Moon.

Artemis 2

The crewed Artemis 2 mission, scheduled for 2024, will orbit the Moon without making a surface landing, just like Apollo 8 did. Before the year is over, the names of the crew's four members will be announced. One of them is likely to be a Canadian.

Artemis 3

Since Apollo 17 in December 1972, the Artemis 3 mission will be the first to send astronauts to the Moon. The southern pole of the Moon, where water in the form of ice has been discovered, will be the site of NASA's first crewed spaceship landing. Near the equator, Moon landings have previously taken place.

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A programme audit conducted by a third party revealed that, although Artemis 3 is supposed to happen in 2025, it might not happen until 2026 at the earliest. NASA intends to launch crewed flights around once a year beginning with Artemis 3.

Gateway

A space station dubbed Gateway will be built as part of the Artemis programme and will orbit the Moon. The living quarters module and power and propulsion system are scheduled to launch by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the earliest in late 2024.

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The Gateway would need to be put together by Orion personnel. A lander that would enable them to go to the Moon and back would eventually be available to astronauts after they had spent 30 to 60 days in Gateway. Additionally, Gateway would act as a pit station on any future trips to Mars.

SpaceX

For Artemis 3, NASA has chosen Elon Musk's SpaceX to construct the Moon lander. The shuttle from the Orion crew capsule to the lunar surface and back will be provided by SpaceX's Starship, which is still in development.

Mars Mission

The "next giant leap — human exploration of Mars" is what NASA refers to as the programme's ultimate goal. In order to get ready for a voyage to Mars, NASA will use the information gleaned from Artemis concerning upcoming spacesuits, vehicles, propulsion, resupply, and other areas. The objective is to discover how to sustain human presence in deep space for an extended period of time.

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The idea is to establish a "base camp" on the moon and have astronauts stay there for up to two months. While it just takes a few days to travel to the Moon, it would take at least many months to travel to Mars.

(With AFP inputs)