The Artemis Program: NASA is Going Back to the Moon
The Artemis Program is not some startup’s pipe dream or the landing of a minor moon probe; this is the real deal. Humanity is going back to the Moon, and to stay this time.
NASA’s 21st-century Moon initiative is not new. Work on Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket that NASA plans to use to take humanity to the Moon and Mars, started over a decade ago. Additionally, the Orion capsule, the crewed module that will ferry astronauts to the Moon and back, is already built and flight-tested. The main new item here is the timeline. NASA’s new Artemis Program is a grand re-branding of NASA’s Moon efforts with an updated timeline.
President Donald Trump has asked NASA to accelerate our plans to return to the Moon and to land humans on the surface again by 2024. We will go with innovative new technologies and systems to explore more locations across the surface than was ever thought possible. This time, when we go to the Moon, we will stay. And then we will use what we learn on the Moon to take the next giant leap — sending astronauts to Mars ”
— NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
I highly recommend reading NASA’s slides on its Moon 2024 initiative. The slides are informative and easy-to-digest.
