Artemis III mission
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The Artemis 3 mission, NASA's planned crewed lunar landing mission, is currently scheduled to launch no earlier than 2027.
Key points of the Artemis III mission:
- Artemis III is NASA's first crewed Moon landing mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, planned for no earlier than mid-2027.
- The mission will land astronauts near the lunar South Pole, a region with unique scientific interest including potential water ice deposits.
- Four astronauts will launch on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in the Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center.
- Scientific goals include geological sampling, studying water ice, testing advanced spacesuits, and deploying new instruments like the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS).
- Artemis III will demonstrate new technologies and operational capabilities to support sustainable human presence on the Moon and future missions to Mars.
- The mission duration will be approximately 30 days from launch to Earth return.
- Artemis III aims to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon.
- It was an uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission launched on November 16, 2022, that tested NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft in deep space.
- It orbited the Moon, including six days in a distant retrograde orbit, and returned safely to Earth after about 25 days, validating critical systems for crewed missions.
- The first crewed mission in the Artemis program, planned for early 2026.
- Four astronauts will travel aboard Orion on a roughly 10-day lunar flyby mission, testing life support and other systems in deep space.
- This mission will send humans around the Moon farther than ever before since Apollo 17, preparing for future lunar landings and beyond.
