“This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for humankind.” The moment this statement left his mouth, it opened our eyes and ears for us to comprehend that there’s more outside of the four walls one might live in or the walls of countries or the ones of our society. There’s something beyond our greatest technological inventions and human capabilities and scary as it may seem to some it also means that there is more to discover. Today’s topic is about the Artemis, a spacecraft sending people back to the moon after five decades.
The spacecraft for the Artemis ll mission is the most powerful in the world and these four astronauts will be the first to ride in it to outer space. It’s called the Space Launch System (SLS). The system on the bottom has two rocket boosters and what’s unique about these is their design displaying the logo “America 250” indicating the United States and our 250th Anniversary. Then we begin with the stages first we have the core stage. Then the middle stage is called the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. This stage is important without it NASA wouldn’t be able to send big loads into space. At the very top we have the Orion stage which is composed of three parts. The European Space Module, the Capsule, and the Launch Abort System. The European space module gives the spacecraft propulsion which drives it forward. The Capsule is where the astronauts live and work and will be spending their entire time. Fun fact this is the only part of the entire spacecraft that will return to Earth they’ve named it Integrity. Finally though we hope it won’t be used. In case of an emergency in which their lives would be in danger the Launch Abort system would separate from the rest of the spacecraft.
The mission is for the astronauts to test the features for human beings on the Space Launch System. These features include exercise, eating, communication, and radiation(“consists of high-energy charged particles which are x-rays and gamma-rays produced in space by the stars.”) and docking (“the process of connecting two spacecraft without external assistance.”) Though they will be going to the moon they won’t stand on it their mission is a flyby mission. The closest they’ll be getting is about 100-200 miles away. In the first two minutes in space the rocket boosters will disconnect. After eight minutes the spacecraft will run out of fuel. The core stage will then drop leaving Orion to finish the mission. The spacecraft will need fuel to make it to the moon but thanks to the wonderful ways of the Earth and Moon’s gravity it will naturally bring the spacecraft back .This was also the path which saved the mission of Apollo 13. They will also confirm the mechanics work. Astronauts testing for a different mission had a problem with the thrusters of their spacecraft. The original plan was for Butch and Suni to come back in a few weeks eventually turning into months stuck in space.
Onto the crew. These people are incredible and have accomplished so much in their lifetime. Down below there is a list of some achievements of theirs.
- Reid Wiseman
- 27 year Navy veteran
- Engineer
- Pilot
- Commander on this mission
- Victor Glover
- Astronaut since 2013
- Engineer
- Test Pilot
- Pilot on this mission of Artemis ll
- Christina Koch
- Electrical engineer
- Firefighter
- She holds the record for the woman with the longest amount of days alone in space
- She’ll be a mission specialist on Artemis ll
- Jeremy Hansen
- Physicist
- First Canadian to teach an astronaut class at NASA
- Pilot
- Will be a mission specialist
So the big question is when will this spacecraft’s mission begin? Well the window opening for Artemis ll began on February 5th, 2026. Now if we look back at Artemis l it took a couple attempts to get everything to work before launch but this attention to detail gave NASA a very good flight . This time there will be actual humans on board so there are lives on that spacecraft. The attention to detail is vital so it shouldn’t be surprising that the launch has been postponed. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex says these astronauts will fly no earlier than the 11th of April.