Fly Me to the Moon — Artemis vs. Apollo
When NASA astronauts return to the Moon in 2024, they will fly on ideas from Apollo, combined with next-generation technology impossible to achieve five decades ago. Artemis and the Lunar Gateway could make flight to the Moon — and beyond — almost commonplace in the next few decades.
NASA has their sights set on sending human travelers, once more, to the Moon, over 50 years after Apollo 11 brought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface as Michael Collins piloted their command module in orbit around our planetary companion.
In the last five decades, technology has made made stunning advances, but NASA learned valuable lessons from Apollo, which will be integral to returning to the Moon.
THE GOAL
Apollo — Because no human had ever before walked on the surface of the Moon, the goal of the Apollo missions (especially Apollo 11) was to place humans on the lunar surface, and return them safely to the Earth. The astronauts on these pioneering flights also had another goal — to bring samples of the lunar surface to Earth, where they could be analyzed by researchers using ground-based equipment.
