Artemis II set for April 1: NASA’s return to the Moon begins

NASA is preparing to launch Artemis II, its first crewed mission to the Moon in more than half a century, with lift-off expected as early as April 1. The mission marks a major step in the United States’ renewed push to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.

Unlike the historic Apollo missions that landed astronauts on the lunar surface, Artemis II will be a flyby mission. Four astronauts will travel around the Moon and return to Earth, testing critical systems ahead of a planned lunar landing later this decade.

The roughly 10-day mission follows the successful uncrewed Artemis I flight in 2022 and is designed to verify the performance of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Artemis II is the first crewed mission in NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the Moon and build a long-term presence there.

The mission is a critical test flight before a planned lunar landing, currently targeted for 2028. It is also part of a broader strategy to develop technologies needed for future human missions to Mars.

The four-member crew includes three Americans and one Canadian:

The mission will mark several milestones, including the first time a woman, a Black astronaut and a non-American travel to the Moon.

The astronauts will not land on the Moon. Instead, they will:

At the point when Orion passes behind the Moon, communication with Earth will briefly be lost. The crew is expected to travel farther from Earth than any humans since Apollo 13.

After launch, the Orion spacecraft will orbit Earth before heading toward the Moon if all systems perform as expected.

The return journey will follow a “free-return” trajectory, using the Moon’s gravity to send the spacecraft back toward Earth. Re-entry into the atmosphere — one of the mission’s most critical phases — will be followed by a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

The mission carries significant risk, as the Orion spacecraft has never flown with humans before.

“We don’t accept anything less than perfect, otherwise we’re accepting greater risk,” said NASA’s former chief astronaut Peggy Whitson.

“...we have to live with that knowledge, because of our space flight history, that when accidents happen, people will die,” she said.

NASA has made adjustments following Artemis I, including refining the re-entry trajectory after unexpected wear on the spacecraft’s heat shield.

Artemis II is similar to Apollo 8, which flew astronauts around the Moon in 1968 without landing.

However, the Artemis programme differs significantly by involving international partners and private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, which are developing lunar landers for future missions.

The Artemis programme comes amid growing global competition in space exploration, particularly with China aiming to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030.

The focus on the Moon’s south pole — believed to contain valuable resources — has added strategic importance to lunar missions.

NASA is targeting a lunar landing by 2028, but the timeline depends on the development of key technologies, including lunar landers being built by private companies.

The programme has faced delays and rising costs, raising questions among experts about whether the schedule can be maintained.

- with inputs from AFP and AP