Science Editor Mony Aramalla explores how NASA’s Artemis program is returning humans to the Moon and redefining the future of space exploration.
For more than fifty years, the Moon has been a place humanity remembers rather than reaches. The last footsteps left in its dust during the Apollo program marked not just the end of an era, but the beginning of a long silence. Now, that silence is breaking. With the NASA Artemis program, rockets are no longer launching for brief victories. This time, the mission is different - it is not about being first, but about staying.
The NASA Artemis Program is often described as a return to the Moon, but that framing undersells what is actually happening. Artemis is a carefully staged sequence of missions, each designed to test, prove, and expand humanity’s ability to live and work in deep space.
The first completed mission, Artemis I (2022), had no astronauts on board but it was far from simple. Its primary goal was to test the systems that will eventually carry humans. The mission launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS), sending the Orion spacecraft on a journey of roughly 2.1 million kilometres. Orion travelled beyond the Moon, entered a distant retrograde orbit, and then returned to Earth at extremely high speeds.
Why does the high speed matter? Because re-entering Earth’s atmosphere from lunar distance is far more intense than returning from low Earth orbit. Artemis I tested Orion’s heat shield under those conditions, along power and navigation systems, answering one key question. Can this spacecraft safely go to the Moon and back? The answer, based on mission data, was yes.
The next step was Artemis II (2026), the current mission, and this is where the astronauts come in. Artemis II was the first crewed mission in the program and the first time humans travelled beyond the Earth’s orbit since 1972. The planned crew included NASA’s Reid Wiseman (Commander) , Victor Glover (Pilot) , Christina Koch (Mission Specialist), and Canadian Space Agency’s mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.
“Artemis II will be the first crewed mission in the program and the first time humans travel beyond the Earth’s orbit since 1972.”
This mission started with a launch aboard the Space Launch System, which carried the Orion spacecraft into Earth orbit. Artemis II did not immediately commit to the Moon. Instead, Orion completed several orbits around Earth, giving the crew time to test systems in a safe environment. During this phase, the astronauts evaluated life support systems, navigation controls and communication links with mission control. After this verification, the spacecraft performed a powerful engine burn called translunar injection, taking the mission to deep space. Over the following days, Orion travelled hundreds of thousands of kilometres away from Earth, entering a region where communication delays increased and the safety net of immediate return disappeared. At its further point, the crew travelled farther from Earth than any humans in history.
As Orion approached the Moon, it was in close flyby rather than entering the orbit or attempting a landing. The astronauts experienced true deep space conditions while minimising risk. They observed and documented the lunar surface, including the far side of the Moon, while engineers on Earth monitored how the spacecraft performed under these conditions.
After the flyby, Orion accelerated back toward Earth, where re-entry at around 40000 km/hr exposed the spacecraft to extreme heat. To manage this, the Orion bounced off the atmosphere briefly before descending fully, reducing stress on the spacecraft and improving landing accuracy. The mission ended in the Pacific Ocean, and although this mission only lasted ten days, it provided important data on how the human body responds to deep space travel.
Then comes the most ambitious phase: Artemis III. This mission aims to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time in over fifty years. Unlike the Apollo missions, which focused on the equatorial regions, Artemis III is targeting the Moon’s south pole. This area is of major interest because it contains permanently shadowed craters where water ice is believed to exist.
Instead of using a fully NASA built lander, Artemis III will reply on a system developed by SpaceX. This landing system will transport astronauts from lunar orbit down to the surface and back. Once on the Moon, astronauts will carry out a mix of scientific and exploratory work including collecting samples, studying composition of lunar ice and testing advanced tech and surface mobility systems. The presence of water ice is crucial; it could be used for drinking water, oxygen production, and even fuel, making future missions more sustainable.
What sets the Artemis mission apart is its long term vision. This is not a once off goal for NASA and other space agencies working with them. It is the beginning of repeated missions. The program wants to establish a sustained human presence, with astronauts landing, building infrastructure and gradually increasing their reach.
There is also symbolic significance to who goes. NASA has stated that Artemis III aims to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon, marking a huge shift in representation in space exploration. This matters culturally and politically and shows that space exploration is no longer a domain of a narrow group, but a global one.
If it works, Artemis returns humans to the Moon, and will change what we do once we get there.