The Artemis space program

The Artemis space program

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (more commonly known as NASA) is on the brink of launching its first crewed mission to the moon in 50 years. It’s a momentous occasion, but it’s not without a lot of questions. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll take a look at:

• why the mission is happening now

• why it’s been such a long time between drinks

• and why some people have raised concerns about the mission’s safety…

Prefer this in your ears?

Listen to our podcast 🎧

Listen time: 10 minutes

Squiz the Shortcut

Let’s start with a bit of a blast into the past… Tell me about the last time humans went to the moon…
The last time NASA went to the moon was in 1972 aboard the Apollo 17 mission. Not only were the astronauts on that mission the last to visit the moon, but they were the last to ever be that far from Earth - we’re talking 400 miles (or just over 643 kilometres). 

Why has it taken so long to go back?
Before we get into that, it might be helpful to put some context around the last time humans set foot on the moon. In short, the Apollo missions were a race. In the midst of the Cold War, it was all about excellence and exploration - the USA and the then-USSR were striving to prove their national dominance over each other. 

Which country got there first?
The USSR put the first human in space, but it was America that got to the moon first. That was in 1969, and then they went back a few times between then and 1972. The Apollo missions were about proving that we could send someone to the moon - getting there (and getting back) was kind of the whole point.

Got it… Is the point of this next mission different?
Yes… If Apollo was about putting people in space, Artemis is about staying there. According to NASA’s own website, they are “exploring the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars.” The overall goal is to establish the first long-term presence on the Moon.

How are they going to achieve that?
It’s a lofty goal, and central to all of it is a vessel called the Orion Spacecraft. NASA has spent around $30 billion dollars designing the Orion, and it’s aimed at keeping astronauts safe as they travel to and from the moon - it’s gone further than any spacecraft designed for humans before. 

Tell me more…
That was during Artemis I, the first of 4 planned missions in the Artemis program so far - it launched in 2022 and went 432,210 kilometres from Earth during a 25-day trip. In total, it travelled well over 2 million kilometres. 

That’s a lot of frequent flyer miles…
It might’ve been, but it was an uncrewed mission, meaning no humans were aboard. Which is why the next one - Artemis II - is such a big deal. 

Is it going to take humans to the moon again?
Not yet… The job of Artemis II is not to land on the moon. Instead, it’s going on a 10-day loop around the moon. And the other goal is to prove that the Orion Spacecraft can actually sustain the 4 astronauts on board - 3 Americans and 1 Canadian - before NASA can launch Artemis III…

What happens on Artemis III?
This is the one where humans will be sent to the surface of the moon again. Specifically, they’ll be exploring the lunar South Pole region. One of the key reasons they’re heading there is because that’s where there’s frozen water. If there’s water, it might be possible to mine fuel on the moon - if you can do that, it would make it easier and cheaper to go to Mars…

So there are big plans afoot…
Exactly… But it’s not going to be simple - in NASA’s own words, it will be one of the most complex undertakings of engineering and human ingenuity in the history of deep space exploration. The goal for that launch is 2028, so it’s not far away. And then that leads us to Artemis IV…

To infinity and beyond…?
Not quite… The fourth mission involves building the first space station on the moon along with a new mobile rocket launcher and a stack of other things. This is perhaps why there’s no timeline attached to Artemis IV on NASA’s website just yet... But they are big goals - and they’re not just American goals. 

Who else is involved?
NASA has specifically stated it’s looking to build a global alliance to make these missions work, and in its words “inspire a new generation of explorers”. It’s also made clear that it has broader social goals as well…

What do you mean by that?
It wants to enable the first woman to walk on the moon and the first person of colour. Up until now, the group of people who have walked on the moon have been exclusively white men, so they’re looking to break through some barriers there too.

Got it… So, back to the timeline. Why so long between moon landings?
It comes back to the race aspect of the first moon mission. Once someone wins a race, there’s not much point in continuing to run… But aside from that, the other big factors have been money and safety standards. In the 1960s, NASA’s budget was about 4% of the total US government budget, but that’s been gradually dropping ever since.

Why is that?
Spending any money on space exploration has always been controversial - right from the beginning, questions have been asked about why money is being spent on sending someone to the moon when we have so many problems that money could help solve on Earth. It’s a hard one for governments to argue with…

Did the USSR keep investing in its space program?
The Soviet Union couldn’t match the US economically as the Cold War went on, so their space program dropped away. And as the US government focused on events like the Vietnam War and increased poverty, NASA chose to concentrate on what’s called low Earth orbit. 

What is low Earth orbit?
That’s basically working out if humans could live sustainably in space via projects like the International Space Station. Because going to the moon wasn’t just incredibly expensive - it was incredibly dangerous. Many experts have pointed out that even though it was a momentous human achievement, Apollo 11 was quite reckless by current standards of safety with exploration; it wouldn’t have been done the same way today. 

Just explain that a bit more…
Shortly after the Apollo 11 mission, Apollo 13 had a very close call. You might remember that ordeal was made into a movie by the same name… Then, much later, there were 2 major disasters in the US space program - the Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Columbia disaster in 2003 - which served as reminders of how dangerous the whole project is. 

Is there more of a focus on safety now?
Yes, much more… NASA has essentially taken this long to build a program that they consider safe enough and within budget enough to warrant heading back… But still, not everyone is convinced about the safety part. One specific part of the Orion spacecraft is causing some concern. It’s called the heat shield… 

What does the heat shield do?
It’s there to protect the astronauts from the heat - particularly as they come back to Earth. When NASA launched Artemis I, they had the same vessel with the same heat shield - but it came back with damage that the engineers at NASA weren’t quite expecting…

What sort of damage?
It looked a bit like if you left a mug on a gas burner - there were pockmarks and burns all over it… NASA investigated why it turned out that way, but nearly 4 years later - they’re sending the Orion out with the same heat shield as before. NASA says it’s changed the flight path of the vessel, and that should fix the issue. 

What do the experts say?
There have been several people in the field voicing concerns - one of them is former NASA astronaut and heat shield expert Dr Charlie Camarda, who says it’s “crazy” that NASA is talking about sending the Orion back up with the same heat shield. He’s part of a group of astronauts who reckon that NASA - and the Orion specifically - isn’t ready to be sent into space with humans aboard.

And where does NASA stand?
NASA is pressing ahead - it says risk is involved in all space travel, and it’s done everything it can to ensure the mission is as safe as possible. 

So, when will Artemis II blast off?
The launch was originally set for this weekend but it’s now slated for next month due to weather conditions in Florida, as well as some technical issues with a test launch. But one thing is for sure, whenever it does launch, the world will be watching closely…

Onto our Recommendations

Watching: Apollo 13 starring Tom Hanks dramatises what happened on that mission. It takes some liberties to keep the story rolling but it’s considered by space buffs to be one of the most historically and technically accurate movies ever made.

Reading: NASA’s Artemis page pretty much answers any questions you can think of about all of the Artemis missions planned…

Reading: This BBC story has a stack of cool facts about the moon, like what it’s made of (they compare it to “a chocolate-covered cherry” in terms of its layers)... And here’s the CNN article we mentioned about the heat shield issues with Artemis 1… 

Lightening the load for 2026

There's a special kind of defeat in watching your suitcase come along the carousel looking like it came off second-best during the transit shuffle... Samsonite has been at it for over a century, and they've nailed the balance between lightweight and durable - handy when you're pushing weight limits or travelling frequently. Check out their range of travel essentials here.

Recent Shortcuts