NASA launched the second mission of its Artemis program, originally scheduled for February, on Wednesday.
During a wet dress rehearsal of the rocket-towering system at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 8, NASA said it had encountered weather-related delays and found a leak in the hydrogen tanks.
The Artemis II rocket was rolled off the launch pad at the end of February after numerous delays, and NASA then moved to restructure the entire Artemis program’s timeline following the Artemis II launch.
Crowds cheered as the rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m., sending astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, though the crew will not land there on this mission.
NASA ANNOUNCES $20 BILLION MOON BASE, CANCELING ORBITING LUNAR STATION
The second Artemis mission is the first crewed flight test aboard the Orion spacecraft, which sent four astronauts into deep space on a lunar flyby, marking the first time astronauts have been to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The crew for the second mission is NASA’s Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
The Biden administration pushed for the first woman and the first person of color to be among the crew to go to the moon. The firsts will still happen, as Glover will be the first black man on the moon, Koch will be the first woman, and Hansen will be the first Canadian.
Artemis II is a stepping stone in NASA’s Artemis campaign, which seeks to establish a long-term presence on the moon and continue research aimed at sending humans to Mars. The program was established in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term, after he signed Space Policy Directive-1 two years prior. This directive refocused the Obama administration’s policies on “moon first” initiatives.
The Biden administration largely embraced Artemis, keeping it central to U.S. space policy. The program was safeguarded by legislation in 2022, making it politically durable but also subject to oversight. Artemis is funded annually by Congress, where it has strong bipartisan backing, mainly because the equipment is built across dozens of states.
Named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology, Artemis is meant to expand on the Apollo missions by planting more than a flag. Artemis will establish a $20 billion base on the moon.
NASA had previously planned to build a space station, Gateway, to orbit the moon instead of the base, but NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman changed the program plan in March. The program is paired with the Artemis Accords, a set of nonbinding agreements that outline principles for lunar exploration, resource use, and cooperation.
In contrast to Apollo, Artemis relies heavily on commercial partners to develop spacecraft components, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The program’s first major test, Artemis I, launched in 2022. During the 25-day mission, the uncrewed flight test sent Orion around the moon and back to Earth. The mission validated the performance of the Space Launch System, though it revealed problems with the capsule’s heat shield that required further analysis.
Building on this success, Artemis II was originally slated for launch in 2025, but faced significant delays due to funding issues. In 2024, the cost to launch Artemis II was estimated at $4.2 billion.
While NASA champions Artemis II and emphasizes its importance in space exploration, critics argue that the cost is unjustified, especially since many rocket parts end up in the ocean or are lost after missions.
Artemis II will carry its crew on a 10-day lunar flyby to test Orion’s life-support systems and crew interfaces in deep space.
Trump has solidified the program’s missions by signing an executive order to have Americans on the moon by 2028 and establish “initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost” by 2030.
Artemis III was previously the mission that would put boots on the moon, but in the new format, it will test out systems and operational capabilities in low Earth orbit. As a moon landing, this step was slated for 2028, but under the new schedule, it has been moved up to 2027.
Artemis III will instead focus on testing rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and commercial spacecraft in Earth orbit, a critical step before attempting a landing. The previous framework left too many firsts to the third mission; now those firsts are spread across Artemis III and IV.
Artemis IV is now scheduled to be the first lunar landing in 2028. The mission will rely on commercial partners such as SpaceX and Blue Origin to provide landing systems that can transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface.
NASA says the incremental approach mirrors the step-by-step buildup used during the Apollo era, prioritizing safety and system validation as missions grow more complex.
“Standardizing vehicle configuration, increasing flight rate and progressing through objectives in a logical, phased approach, is how we achieved the near-impossible in 1969 and it is how we will do it again,” Isaacman said.
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The ultimate goal of the Artemis program is to establish a permanent presence on the moon. Missions beyond Artemis IV will send astronauts to live and work at the NASA moon base.
Development is already underway with Maxar and Northrop Grumman constructing two modules that will connect to the SpaceX rocket.
