The crew of Artemis II was strapped into the Orion space capsule on Wednesday, preparing for a journey that will be downright historic.
According to NASA, Artemis II is set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, taking its crew on a journey that will last for more than a week.
But just how long will it take Artemis to reach the moon, and to complete its mission by returning to Earth?
According to former astronaut Joan Higginbotham, the craft will reach a speed of nearly 24,000 miles per hour during its mission, and will travel more than 685,000 miles.
Here’s how the trip will unfold.
Days 1 and 2: Launch, The Journey Begins
The plan for the crew will be to orbit Earth in the days following launch, calibrating instruments, checking life support systems and making sure systems that remove carbon dioxide from the air, among other tests.
They will also perform several engine burns to set themselves up for what is called the “translunar injection burn,” which will put the craft on its course toward the moon.
That maneuver is expected to take place on the second day of the mission.
Days 3-4: Preparations Continue
The astronauts will continue their preparations on approach to the moon, taking photos and plotting their course as they continue on the first manned mission to approach the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
They are also expected to conduct several engine burns to ensure they are on the correct course, according to NASA.
Days 5-6: Arrival at the moon
It is expected that the craft will get to the moon on the sixth day of the mission, but unlike Apollo 8, which orbited the moon several times as the crew mapped out landing sites on its surface, the Orion spacecraft will instead make one pass around the moon, never entering low-lunar orbit according to space.com.
That will include a trip around the “dark side of the moon,” during which communications with Earth will be cut off for more than half an hour, according to NASA.
Overall the crew will be at least 4,000 nautical miles above the moon’s surface, meaning that when they travel around the back side of the moon they will be further from Earth than any manned mission in history.
“In that process, they’ll be close to 5,000 miles away from the surface of the moon which is farther than humanity has ever been from planet earth, farther than even the apollo astronauts got,” Michelle Nichols, director of public programs at Adler Planetarium, said.
Days 7-10:
Since the spacecraft will not have to exit low-lunar orbit, they will be able to use the gravity of Earth to be drawn back toward the planet in a process that will take up to four days.
They’ll separate from the service module once they near Earth, then will re-enter and splash down in the ocean before being retrieved by crews on the 10th day.
What’s the long-term mission for Artemis?
If all goes according to plan, the current expectation is that the Artemis III mission would be the first manned mission to the moon’s surface since Apollo 17.
There is not an exact date set for that mission, but the initial plan is to launch in mid-2027.
The goal of the Artemis mission is to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon, and to potentially enable humanity to embark on a manned mission to Mars.
They plan to set up a base at the south pole of the moon. They would mine the region for water ice, which would be processed into rocket fuel.
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