NASA's Artemis II Mission: First crewed mission to Moon in over 50 years launched; woman astronaut to travel close to Moon for very first time
The U.S. space agency, NASA, launched the 'Artemis II' mission today, April 2. At 4:05 AM, the 'Space Launch System' (SLS)—carrying four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft—set off toward the Moon. The launch took place from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
For the first time, a woman will travel close to the Moon. Engineer and physicist Christina Koch (47) serves as a Mission Specialist on this flight. She already holds the record for the longest continuous stay in space by a woman (328 days). As a child, she resolved to become an astronaut after seeing the iconic 'Earthrise' photograph taken during the Apollo 8 mission.
Since 'Apollo 17' in 1972, this marks the first instance of humans venturing beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to travel close to the Moon. The four astronauts will orbit the Moon in their spacecraft before returning to Earth. This mission is scheduled to last 10 days.
The primary objective of the Apollo missions in the 1970s was to demonstrate superiority in the ongoing 'Space Race' against the Soviet Union. However, the Artemis program is entirely focused on preparing for the future.
This time, NASA aims to establish a permanent base on the Moon, enabling humans to learn how to live and work there. This experience will be instrumental in realizing the future dream of sending humans to Mars.
Following Artemis II, NASA will proceed to work on the 'Artemis III' mission, which will involve testing docking systems. If all goes according to plan, humans will once again set foot on the Moon in 2028 as part of the Artemis IV mission. Prior to this, the unmanned Artemis I mission was launched in 2022.