Go to the Moon and back in 10 days: the countdown and all the details of the mission

The first crewed mission to the Moon in more than half a century begins its countdown with maximum expectation. If all goes according to plan, NASA will launch the rocket – with three astronauts from the United States and one from Canada on board – on Wednesday, April 1 (in Catalonia, it will already be Thursday morning). The Orion spacecraft will only orbit the Moon and return without landing on it, with the aim of testing the capsule where the crew will travel and preparing NASA for its next lunar landing in subsequent missions. The Artemis II mission marks the return of humans to the Moon after the Apollo 17 journey (the sixth mission and last moon landing) in 1972. This is everything you need to know about this extraordinary mission and the astronauts making the journey.

Artemis II, a milestone after more than half a century

The Artemis II mission consists of taking four astronauts on a 10-day mission to go to the Moon, without landing on it, and then return to Earth. For NASA, it is an important test for the spacecraft, not only because it comes more than 50 years after the last mission, but because it will be a preliminary step to attempting to land astronauts on the Moon in the near future.

When is the launch scheduled?

If there are no incidents, the takeoff is scheduled for this Thursday, April 2nd (at 00:24 AM from Wednesday to Thursday, Catalan time). Initially, takeoff was scheduled for February, but due to a fuel leak during preliminary test runs, it was postponed until Friday, March 6th (Saturday 7th, Catalonia time). On March 7th, however, new incidents caused the launch to be canceled. Now, finally, it seems like it could be the definitive date.

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Who are the crew members and how have they prepared?

Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. These are the four crew members who were selected in 2023 for the mission and have since been training for their journey to the Moon. Wiseman, the commander; Glove, the pilot; and Koch, the mission specialist, are three NASA astronauts from the United States who have been to the International Space Station. Hansen, the latest member of the spacecraft, is a mission specialist from Canada who has never been to space and will be the first person who is not a NASA astronaut to make a lunar journey. Christina Koch will become the first woman to travel around the Moon, and Victor Glover, the first Black man.

“We always say that we are not doing this for the superlatives”, said Reid Wiseman, the mission commander, this Sunday during a press conference prior to Wednesday’s launch. Rather, Artemis II is “for everyone, and by everyone”, he said. “This is what NASA embodies.” Christina Koch, for her part, added that they have “the firm hope that this mission will be the beginning of an era in which everyone can look at the Moon and think of it also as a destination”.

Orion, the spacecraft for the journey to the Moon

Orion is the two-main-section spacecraft that will take astronauts to the Moon and back to Earth. During the 10-day mission, astronauts will remain inside the crew module, located at the top. Below is the service module, a cylindrical piece provided by the European Space Agency that houses propulsion, power, and life support systems.

The crew module will return to Earth and land in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of San Diego. This capsule, built by Lockheed Martin and christened Integrity by the crew, can house four astronauts for missions up to 21 days.

The objective of the Artemis II mission

The Artemis II mission aims to test Orion's life support and other critical systems, those essential subsystems that ensure the crew's survival, the spacecraft's integrity, and the mission's success. After separating from the launch rocket, the crew plans to test Orion's ability to perform docking maneuvers for future flights.

Once the spacecraft heads towards the Moon, it will follow what is known as a "free return" trajectory: the Moon's gravity will cause the capsule to travel directly back to Earth without needing to ignite its engines. Therefore, even if there were a propulsion system failure, the Orion capsule could return to Earth.

When the astronauts fly over the far side of the Moon, they will make observations of the lunar surface, including parts that human eyes have never seen before. Overall, the Artemis missions aim to explore the Moon to make scientific discoveries and extract resources such as frozen water for future space missions.