NASA plans to launch the Artemis II mission—which will carry humans back to the Moon after more than 50 years—on April 1, the U.S. space agency has announced.
On Thursday, March 12, NASA completed the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) for the Artemis II mission and received a favorable outcome to proceed with the launch process.
The agency aims to transport the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B on Thursday, March 19, with a view toward a launch attempt on Wednesday, April 1, pending the completion of final outstanding tasks.
The Artemis II mission, originally scheduled for launch in March, was delayed; consequently, NASA moved the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the Orion spacecraft off the launch pad in late February.
Humans will return to the Moon as part of the Artemis mission after a hiatus of over 50 years—a period dating back to the 1960s, when NASA developed the crewed Apollo space program, which concluded in 1972.
For the first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon—which will last ten days—four astronauts will be selected: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, along with Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
However, the moment when humans once again set foot on the lunar surface remains further off—at least until 2028—as NASA has added a new test mission to its lunar program: Artemis III, currently scheduled for 2027.
NASA explained that it is increasing the frequency of its missions under the Artemis program in order to achieve its objective of returning astronauts to the Moon and establishing a sustainable presence there. This includes standardizing vehicle configurations, adding an additional mission in 2027, and—from that point onward—conducting at least one surface landing per year.
This new mission entails a rendezvous and docking with one or both commercial lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin; in-space testing of the docked vehicles; integrated verification of life support, communications, and propulsion systems; as well as testing of new Extravehicular Activity (xEVA) suits.
Unlike the Apollo program—in which astronauts spent a total of only about two weeks on the lunar surface—the Artemis program aims to enable humans to learn how to live and work for extended periods on the surface of another world, as well as to learn how to utilize lunar resources.
