357-NASA’s $93BN Plan to Return to the Moon

NASA’s Exploration Campaign: Back to the Moon and on to Mars – NASA Science.

In two years, NASA plans to land humans on the Moon! NASA’s Artemis Program, which will establish a permanent human presence on the Moon, is currently underway. It has 4 main components: The space launch system, or SLS, which will launch astronauts into orbit. The Orion spacecraft, which will transport them to and from the Moon. The human landing system, which will transport them to and from the lunar surface. And Gateway, a space station that will support ground operations.

Already, Artemis 1, which launched in November 2022, has successfully demonstrated the SLS and Orion, by sending an un-crewed Orion around the Moon and back to Earth. The next mission, in 2024, will launch astronauts around the Moon and finally, in 2025, they will land on the surface. After this, many more missions will establish a permanent human lunar presence, serving as a stepping stone to Mars and other destinations even further into the solar system!

NASA’s new class of astronauts – the first to graduate since the agency announced its Artemis program – appear on stage during their graduation ceremony at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Jan. 10, 2020. The class includes 11 NASA candidates, as well as two Canadian Space Agency (CSA) candidates, selected in 2017. They will join the active astronaut corps, beginning careers in exploration that may take them to the International Space Station, on missions to the Moon under the Artemis program, or someday, Mars. Pictured from left are: Kayla Barron of NASA, Zena Cardman of NASA, Raja Chari of NASA, Matthew Dominick of NASA, Bob Hines of NASA, Warren Hoburg of NASA, Jonny Kim of NASA, Joshua Kutryk of CSA, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, Loral O’Hara of NASA, Jessica Watkins of NASA, Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons of CSA, and Frank Rubio of NASA. Credits: NASA