More than half a century later, NASA will send astronauts on a mission around the Moon

THE pot announced that in November 2024 the Artemis 2 space mission will travel manned orbit of the Moon and it will be the first time since 1972 that humans will approach the satellite.

This schedule is due to the success of the Artemis 1 mission, which ended in December after just over 25 days in space.

The Orion capsule, which flew unoccupied on its first test flight, was propelled by the new SLS rocket – the world’s most powerful – and into orbit around the Moon, before returning to Earth.

Detailed analysis of this mission continues, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free said at a news conference. But the first evaluations allow for a take-off of the second mission towards “the end of November 2024”, added the manager, that is to say in a year and a half.

For this trip, NASA is expected this year to announce the four Artemis 2 crew members, including a Canadian, who will circle the satellite without landing in a ten-day mission.

“We’re looking for that Artemis 2 crew,” Free added. “At the moment there is nothing stopping us after what we have learned with Artemis 1.”

Then comes the Artemis 3 mission, scheduled to take place about 12 months after Artemis 2, in which the astronauts will have to land on the south pole of the Moon and that officially it is still scheduled for 2025, even if it is an uncertain timetable.

“Our plan has always been for 12 months, but there are important developments that need to be made,” Free warned.

“We need a lander,” and we’ll also “need our space suits” for surface exploration, Free explained.

The lander will be a version of SpaceX’s spaceship, but its maiden orbital flight has yet to take place; while the spacesuits are still being developed by the Axiom Space company.

NASA’s goal is to establish a permanent presence on the Moon by building a base and space station in orbit around the moon..

Apollo 17, the last crew to approach the Moon

On December 11, 1972, Apollo 17 took off at night, the only one to do so, from the coast of the state of Florida, in the southeastern United States, until the departure of Aretemis I in November 2022.

It was commanded by Eugene Cernan, a veteran who already knew the lunar landscape, at least from orbit, having flown Apollo 10, the “dress rehearsal” before the first moon landing.

They traveled just over 30 kilometers, accumulating rock samples, for example, which are still preserved today at the Space Center in Houston.

It was a mission with several incidents, minor ones, but problems nonetheless. Among these, the frequent loss of balance, since the backpack they carried on their shoulders raised their center of gravity and it was enough for them to lean a little to fall.