Landing astronauts on the moon 'is absolutely doable, and it's doable soon,' NASA's Artemis 2 commander says
Space • • general
Key Points:
- NASA's Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, successfully completed a 10-day journey around the moon, testing life support systems and validating the spacecraft's capability to sustain a crew in lunar space.
- Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen praised Orion's performance and shared insights that will inform preparations for longer Artemis missions, emphasizing the importance of ongoing practice and system improvements.
- The next mission, Artemis 3, scheduled for mid-2027, will involve rendezvous and docking maneuvers in Earth orbit with lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, marking a critical step toward crewed lunar landings.
- Artemis 3, initially planned as the first moon landing in 2028, now appears more achievable following Artemis 2's success, with astronauts expressing confidence in the technical feasibility of landing soon.
- If timelines hold, Artemis 4 will follow with a crewed landing near the lunar south pole in late 2028, advancing NASA's goal of sustained human presence on the moon.
