Four Artemis astronauts are flying further from Earth than any human has ventured before.
After hitting one of the most tense points in their mission, a 40-minute communications blackout as the Orion capsule flies directly behind the Moon, the astronauts will be slingshotted back towards Earth.
All being well, their craft will return late on Friday, when Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
But the 10-day Artemis II flight is only the latest stage in Nasa’s “Moon to Mars” programme – started during Donald Trump’s first term – with more ambitious space travel yet to come.
The next mission, Artemis III, due in 2027, is a trip to near-Earth orbit to test docking functions between different craft – critical for reaching the Moon.
Landing humans on the Moon – and then Mars
Artemis IV, scheduled for early 2028, is the mission that will finally land humans on the Moon after a 56-year absence from our satellite.
The following mission, also in 2028, will start building a permanent base on the Moon’s South Pole, with yearly flights scheduled after that to continue its construction.
This will test out life support systems and the nuclear power supply needed for the even loftier goal of sending crewed missions to Mars.
“Artemis is all about testing and improving the technology needed for longer, more demanding missions, such as sending humans to Mars,” said Lindsay Podjasek, a Moon researcher at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
It is a huge shift for Nasa, which for decades had been focussing on Earth science and sending uncrewed probes out to explore the solar system. “It’s a really positive development for the ultimate goal of extending human presence beyond low-Earth orbit,” said Professor Mahesh Anand, professor of planetary science and exploration at the Open University.
Space disasters and budget wrangling stopped Moon missions
In the past few decades, Nasa’s aspirations to return to the Moon had repeatedly faltered due to political wrangling over its budget, as well as two space shuttle disasters that between them led to the loss of 14 lives.
But in 2017, Trump signed an executive order directing Nasa to focus on returning humans to the moon – before China and Russia.
China had seemed to be nosing ahead in the modern space race, because in 2024, it became the first country to bring home soil samples from the mysterious far side of the Moon – the side that is always turned away from Earth. And there are plans for a joint China-Russia lunar base, set to begin in the 2030s.
Artemis received continued support from President Joe Biden’s administration, although the schedule slipped somewhat. The first Moon landing was originally planned for 2024.
In his second term, Trump’s budget-cutting programme of Department of Government Efficiency axed a quarter of Nasa’s budget for research into Earth’s climate and the solar system to prioritise funding for Artemis.
Nasa also cancelled its stated aim of putting the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon after Trump’s executive orders slashed inclusion initiatives.
Space race rivalries accelerate missions
We should not count too hard on Nasa sticking to its planned schedule for the future missions as space flights are often delayed, warned Anand. “They say that they want to land humans by 2028 – if it happens in 2029 or even 2030 I don’t think it will shock anybody.”
It is unclear which nation will take the lead in the modern the space race – the first version of which spurred on the original Apollo programme, which put humans on the Moon in 1969.
But the competition may also help ensure continued public and political support for Artemis, said Anand. “It is because of these rivalries that things are happening faster than they probably otherwise would have happened,” he said.
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