NASA is preparing to send occupation missions to the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo era over fifty years ago. With the success of Artemis I, which sent a Spacecraft from Orion on a scope of flight and set up a new distance record for a spaceship on the crew, NASA is preparing for Artemis II. This mission, for which NASA is now not earned earlier than on February 5, 2026 (and April at the latest), a four -person crew around the moon will transport the moon without landing and returning it home ten days later. The announcement was made during a press conference on September 23 in the Johnson Space Center (JSC) of NASA.
The core and upper level of the Space Start System (SLS), which will start the Artemis II mission, were stacked between March and May 2025, while the Solid rocket booster were completed in February. The Orion spaceship is located in the last phases of preparation and will be integrated into the SLS later this year. At the beginning of 2026, the fully stacked rockets and the spaceship will be introduced to their starting point in the Kennedy Space Center in order to prepare for the start window in February. After a “wet dress rehearsal” in which the starting system is fully equipped and a mock countdown is carried out, the Artemis II mission is ready for the start.
Artemis II mission will evaluate all systems and mission architecture with which astronauts are transported to the moon with Artemis III. This mission is currently planned for not earlier than in mid -2027 and will be transferred to two astronauts to a human state system (HLS) provided by SpaceX in the lunar orbit and then descend to the surface. The entire mission is expected to take about 30 days and will be the first time that astronauts have run on the moon since the Apollo 17 Astronauts in 1972.
Artemis II -Astronauten visit the Artemis launch team in the Firing Room 1 in the start control center in the Kennedy Space Center of the NASA in Florida. Credit: NASA
During a meeting that took place on September 19, the members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) were doubtful that the Starship HLS will be ready in time. Paul Hill, the former director of mission operations at NASA JSC, summarized the concerns of NASA and said: “The HLS time plan is considerably questioned and, in our assessment, could be too late for an Artemis 3 moon landing from 2027.” Another problem is cryogenic transmission of lifts, which SpaceX has to successfully demonstrate in order to comply with its contractual obligations.
Nevertheless, the ASAP members also expressed confidence in SpaceX’s ability to deliver their “high production” and “flight pace”.
In related messages, NASA announced that Artemis II -Crew called “integrity”. The announcement was made on September 24 at the Kennedy Space Center of NASA at a press conference. After a NASA declaration:
The name Integrity embodies the basis of trust, respect, openness and humility in the crew and the many engineers, technicians, scientists, planners and dreamers who are required for mission success. The name is also an allusion to the extensive integrated effort from the more than 300,000 spacecraft components up to thousands of people on the whole world who have to come together in order to venture into the moon and back, to inspire the world and to set course for a long-term presence on the moon. The integrity is based on a common core of NASA, the agency’s astronaut office and the CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
During the ASAP meeting, the members also expressed concerns about the future of NASA’s lunar research plans about Artemis III, which they described as “insecure and a little cloudy”. Nevertheless, the agency and Artemis Crew are prepared and on the right track to start the Artemis II mission next year. The success of this mission will initiate a new era of space research and pave the way for regular missions to the moon and a “persistent program of moon research and development”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCIFG_CTQIW
Read more: ARS Technica, NASA
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