Artemis II: Why are they going to the Moon?published at 12:48 GMT
Pallab Ghosh and Alison Francis
Science correspondent and senior science journalist
Image source, NASAImage caption,
Mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover and Nasa Commander Reid Wiseman
Lift-off won’t happen until 6 February at the earliest, but that only marks the beginning of the mission.
Once they are safely in orbit, the astronauts will test how the Orion spacecraft handles. This will involve manually flying the capsule in Earth orbit to practise steering and lining up the spacecraft for future Moon landings.
They will then head out to a point thousands of kilometres beyond the Moon to check Orion’s life‑support, propulsion, power and navigation systems.
The crew will also act as medical test subjects, sending back data and imagery from deep space.
They will work in a small cabin in weightlessness. Radiation levels will be higher than on the International Space Station, which is in low‑Earth orbit, but still safe.
On return to Earth, the astronauts will experience a bumpy return through the atmosphere and a splashdown off the west coast of the US, in the Pacific.
