NASA's Orion spaceship is set to take astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen to the moon during the Artemis II mission. Credit: NASA
NASA plans to launch four astronauts on a 10-day flight around the moon and back, testing a new spaceship on the agency's first crewed mission beyond Earth orbit since 1972.
The mission, called Artemis II, will send a crew in the Orion capsule to verify that its life-support, navigation, communications, and flight systems work as designed in deep space. The astronauts are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.
The flight follows the success of Artemis I, a 25-day uncrewed test in 2022, and represents a required step before NASA attempts to land astronauts on the lunar surface later this decade.
Artemis II could launch in mere days -- as early as Feb. 6 -- depending on a crucial rocket fueling test on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. If all goes to plan, the mission could set a new record in spaceflight history for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled, looping about 4,600 nautical miles beyond the moon.
"None of us were born during Apollo, and so this is our opportunity to inspire a generation of kids to get involved in future space exploration," said Rick Henfling, NASA's entry flight director for the mission. "Maybe one of those kids who was inspired by what we do on Artemis II becomes that person who sets the first footprints on the surface of Mars."
Day 1: Launch and Earth orbit
Artemis II will launch aboard NASA's Space Launch System rocket, producing more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust. As the rocket climbs through the atmosphere, it will shed its solid rocket boosters and protective hardware.
About eight minutes after liftoff, the rocket's core engines will shut down and separate, leaving Orion, which the crew has dubbed Integrity, attached to an upper stage. That stage will fire to place the spaceship into orbit around Earth.
Orion will move from an initial low orbit into a highly oval-shaped orbit that stretches tens of thousands of miles from the planet. NASA designed the path to keep the crew just close enough to return quickly if problems arise.
After the spaceship separates from the upper stage, the astronauts will take manual control and maneuver toward the departing stage, using it as a target. Flight controllers in Houston will monitor the test, which will help prepare crews for docking operations that will be needed near the moon in future missions.
Later, flight controllers will wake up the crew for a crucial step in the mission. The spaceship will need to fire its engine to raise the low point of its orbit, getting into position for the departure burn the next day.
"It's actually right in the middle of the night," said Jeff Radigan, NASA's lead flight director for the mission. "Unfortunately, physics cannot be defied."
Day 2: Systems checks and departure burn
While still flying around Earth, the crew will test Orion's life-support system, which must provide breathable air and maintain safe cabin conditions on longer missions.
NASA will also test communications and navigation by briefly flying Orion beyond the reach of GPS and near-Earth relay satellites, relying instead on the agency's Deep Space Network.
Then, Orion's main engine will fire for a maneuver known as translunar injection, or TLI. The burn will send the spaceship on a four-day trajectory toward the moon and place it on a free-return path that loops around the moon and heads back to Earth. That means once Orion heads toward the moon, gravity from Earth and the moon will naturally bend the spaceship's course back home, even if later engine burns fail.
"The burn that gets us going to the moon is also our deorbit burn," astronaut Koch said. "Wrapping our heads around that is very interesting. Before we go into some of our entry sims, we talk about how, 'Hey, there's no canceling the countdown on this, we are re-entering.' But the truth is we are re-entering before and at the moment we do TLI, and recognizing that our team has to be ready for that full mission as soon as we buy in."
Days 3-5: Journey toward the moon
As Orion travels away from Earth, the crew will continue evaluating spacecraft systems. The astronauts will practice emergency procedures, test radiation-protection measures inside the capsule, and carry out demonstrations planned for future missions.
Along the way, small engine burns will adjust Orion's course. Late on Day 5, the spaceship will enter the moon's sphere of influence, where lunar gravity becomes stronger than Earth's pull.
Day 6: Lunar flyby and far-side observations
Orion will pass between 4,000 and 6,000 miles above the lunar surface, depending on the launch date. From the spaceship windows, the moon will appear roughly the size of a basketball held at arm's length, NASA mission leaders say.
As Orion flies behind the moon, the crew will lose contact with Earth. During that expected communications blackout, the astronauts will photograph and observe the moon's far side. This is when the crew could exceed the distance record set during the Apollo 13 mission for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth.
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"For the 45 minutes that we're closest to the lunar surface, we are also going to be out of contact," said Glover, the mission's pilot. "I would love it if the entire world ... could come together and just be hoping and praying for us to get that acquisition of signal and be back in touch with everybody."
Days 7-9: Heading back home
After rounding the moon, Orion will begin its return to Earth without a major engine burn. The spaceship will rely on the combined gravity of the Earth and moon to guide it home along a fuel-efficient path.
The crew will continue system tests, including additional manual-piloting exercises and radiation-shielding demonstrations. Small correction burns will refine the trajectory for reentry.
Day 10: Reentry and crew recovery
As Orion approaches Earth, its service module will separate and burn up in the atmosphere, exposing the crew capsule's heat shield. The capsule will re-enter at high speed, heating to about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit as superheated plasma briefly blocks radio communications.
After slowing down, Orion will deploy parachutes to reduce its speed for splashdown off the coast of San Diego, California. Inflatable airbags will right the capsule if it lands upside down or on its side.
U.S. Navy teams will recover the capsule and crew, typically within two hours.
"I'm going to say this is my favorite part of the mission," said Daniel Flores, NASA test director and landing recovery team member. "We have our friends flying around the moon. This is when we get to bring our friends back home to their families."
