The Upcoming NASA Project Artemis and our voyage back to the moon

[The Predaking]

So I was just reading up about this, and I thought it was worth sharing. Essentially at the moment, NASA is preparing for its Artemis project which will see the US go back to the oon and establish a permanent moon base. While they are doing this, they have open contracts out there for private companies to deliver instruments and experiments to the moon's surface. One of those is going to launch in January 2024.

MSN

I found some more info on it here

The lunar exploration campaign will start with the uncrewed Artemis I mission and its plan to take an Orion capsule on a four-to-six-week journey to the moon and back. Artemis II will do the same with astronauts on board, then Artemis III will put two astronauts on the surface of the moon sometime after 2024.

"And by Artemis IV, the hope is higher heights," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at an Aug. 3 news conference discussing the upcoming Artemis I mission.

The "Moon to Mars" plan involves establishing a new space station in lunar orbit and, eventually, a habitable Artemis base camp on the surface of the moon's south pole. These structures will help support more discovery and exploration of the solar system, according to NASA.

While the Artemis space missions are mainly focused on lunar exploration, NASA's long-term goals are even more ambitious. Using the technology and research developed during the Artemis space flights, NASA intends to make the next giant leap for mankind: sending astronauts on a mission to Mars.

This sounds like a great project and one that will hopefully be successful! One of the great letdowns of my lifetime is how little progress we have made in space exploration, so us having a lunar base would be awesome.

 

[Caldwin]

We should've already been to Mars by now.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

As much as I want to go to Mars, I disagree. I would have been very surprised if we were there by now. Going to the moon and back, you're still in Earth's orbit the whole way. If you go to Mars, you're stuck there until the next launch window.

 

[The Predaking]

As much as I want to go to Mars, I disagree. I would have been very surprised if we were there by now. Going to the moon and back, you're still in Earth's orbit the whole way. If you go to Mars, you're stuck there until the next launch window.

Yeah, but it would have been cool to be like in For all Mankind and have a base out there in the late 90s.

 

[Axaday]

We should've already been to Mars by now.

shoulda woulda couldn't.

 

[Zamuel]

Mars has things ranging from radiation to planetwide dust storms that make any sort of base fascinatingly difficult. That said, there should have been several moon bases by now. Would make the Mars trip easier.

 

[Echowarrior]

I'd settle for some sort of permanent space station at one of the Lagrange points to be honest.

 

[The Predaking]

I'd settle for some sort of permanent space station at one of the Lagrange points to be honest.

That would be neat too. It would definitely help if we could daisy chain our way out into the solar system.