Four astronauts are preparing to embark on a groundbreaking mission, venturing farther into space than any other humans have before.
Now that’s an achievement worth boasting about!
Scheduled for launch on February 6, NASA’s Artemis II mission will circle the Moon. This will be the first crewed lunar journey since Apollo 17 in 1972, marking over half a century since humans last ventured beyond low Earth orbit.
The mission will include NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. They will embark on a journey lasting approximately 10 days, traveling over 1.1 kilometers into space, around the Moon, and back to Earth.
Lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center, the crew will be aboard NASA’s powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for a mission that spans 10 days. Orion spacecraft will test its enhanced heat shield during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere at speeds nearing 25,000 mph. Get ready for an exhilarating ride.
The mission is planned to follow a free-return trajectory, creating a figure-eight path around the Moon before heading back to Earth.
According to NASA, the Orion spacecraft on this mission will journey nearly 4,600 miles beyond the Moon, reaching farther than any crewed mission has previously achieved.
This will be the first occasion for the Orion spacecraft’s life-support, communication, and navigation systems to be tested with humans onboard in the realm of deep space. Talk about a high-stakes mission.
The mission follows the unmanned Artemis I mission from four years prior. That mission, which lasted almost 26 days, successfully circled the Moon and returned to Earth, concluding with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on December 1 of that year.
Now, the stage is set for the main event…
Even though Artemis II will not include a lunar landing, it’s meant to set the stage for a future mission that will.
NASA states: “Several payloads will fly aboard Artemis II to expand our knowledge of space radiation, human health and behavior, and space communications.”
“What we learn will help us advance future exploration efforts.”
If successful, Artemis II will pave the way for Artemis III, which is anticipated to attempt a historic lunar landing ‘no earlier’ than 2027. That’s coming up quickly!
NASA plans to live-stream the Artemis II launch on their YouTube channel.
You can watch it below here:
The mission also includes significant firsts among the crew members.
Christina Koch is on track to become the first woman to travel beyond low Earth orbit, and Victor Glover will be the first person of color to do so.
Jeremy Hansen will also make history as the first non-American astronaut participating in a lunar mission.