#NASA Artemis II# Moon mission# humans return to Moon# NASA moon launch# Artemis campaign# lunar mission# space exploration news# NASA astronauts# Moon after 50 years# Kennedy Space Center launch
NASA is weeks away from sending astronauts farther than any crew has traveled before, with the agency’s second mission in its Artemis campaign, marking humanity’s return to the lunar neighbourhood for the first time in more than 50 years.
“Artemis II will be a momentous step forward for human spaceflight. This historic mission will send humans farther from Earth than ever before and deliver the insights needed for us to return to the Moon — all with America at the helm,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and added,
“Artemis II represents progress toward establishing a lasting lunar presence and sending Americans to Mars. I could not be more impressed by our NASA team and the Artemis II crew, and wish them well. Boldly forward.”
Why does the Artemis campaign matter?
The upcoming flight will be Artemis II, the second mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign and the first to carry astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit since the Apollo era.
NASA says the Artemis programme is central to its plans to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, technology development, and understanding how humans can live and work on another world. The lessons learned from Artemis missions are expected to play a critical role in future crewed missions to Mars.
Launch preparations underway
NASA said it is targeting no earlier than 7 a.m. EST on Saturday, January 17, to begin the multi-hour rollout of the Artemis II launch vehicle from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The agency’s crawler-transporter 2 will move the nearly 11-million-pound Space Launch System stack at a speed of about one mile per hour along the four-mile route. The journey to the launch pad is expected to take up to 12 hours.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 to Discuss Space Station Science Mission
After 167 days in space, the crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission will hold a news conference at 2:15 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss their science expedition aboard the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will answer questions about their mission. The crew members returned to Earth on Jan. 15, splashing down off the coast of San Diego, and arrived in Houston on Friday, where they will undergo standard postflight reconditioning and evaluations.
NASA will provide live coverage on the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of additional online platforms, including social media.
