NASA begins countdown for manned mission to the Moon after 50 years

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has accelerated preparations for the Artemis II mission, which will mark the return of humans to the Moon. As part of the mission, a crew of four astronauts will undertake a flight lasting approximately 10 days and attempt to reach a distance further than humanity has ever traveled before.

This move will be the first manned trip to the Moon since the Apollo program in the 1970s.

NASA's massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion space capsule will soon be transferred from the vehicle assembly building to the launch pad.

Teams will cover the approximately 6.5-kilometer route in 12 hours, and ground support equipment preparations will be completed at the pad. At the end of January, a final test known as a "wet dress rehearsal" will be conducted, during which all checks, including fueling, will be performed before the launch.

If everything goes as planned, the launch is scheduled for no earlier than March 6 (March 7 in Turkish time). However, since the Moon's position relative to Earth is critical for success, launch windows are limited to the first week of the month. Outside of March, there are also alternative launch dates between April 1 and 6.

The astronauts who will take part in the Artemis II mission consist of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch. Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency is also joining the team as the second mission specialist. This will be the first manned flight to be carried out with the SLS and Orion system. After reaching Earth's orbit, the astronauts will manually control the Orion capsule to conduct important tests for future lunar landing missions.

While the mission crew evaluates the capsule's life support, propulsion, and navigation systems in detail thousands of kilometers beyond the Moon, they will also conduct medical experiments and provide image and data transmission from deep space. The crew, who will work for days in a weightless environment in an area of only nine cubic meters, will land in the Pacific Ocean after a very turbulent atmospheric reentry upon their return.

NEXT STEPS IN ARTEMIS

No lunar landing will be performed as part of the Artemis II mission. This mission will form the basis for the astronaut landing on the Moon with Artemis III. NASA believes that Artemis III will be launched no earlier than 2027, but most likely in 2028. The spacecraft that will land on the Moon has not yet been finalized; options include SpaceX's Starship and the lander developed by Jeff Bezos's company, Blue Origin. Meanwhile, the next-generation spacesuits that the astronauts will wear are also in the final stages of production.

In the later stages of the Artemis program, a space station called Gateway, which will be built in lunar orbit, will play an important role. The construction of this station is targeted for the Artemis IV and V missions. In the future, humanity's permanent presence on the Moon will be possible with the participation of more countries in the project. Thanks to the addition of extra modules and new technologies, robotic exploration vehicles will also be active on the lunar surface.

Artemis II, which will be the first manned lunar trip since Apollo 17 in 1972, is considered an indication that the geopolitical and technological leadership race that the US started in the 1960s has been moved to a longer-term dimension today with new technology and international collaborations.

OTHER COUNTRIES WANTING TO SEND HUMANS TO THE MOON

The US is not the only country aiming to send humans to the Moon. While astronauts from Europe are expected to participate in future Artemis flights, Japan and China are accelerating their own programs. China aims for a manned landing on the south pole of the Moon by 2030. Russia is making plans to send its cosmonauts to the Moon between 2030 and 2035. India also aims to send its astronauts to the Moon by 2040 following the success of Chandrayaan-3.

While manned journeys to the Moon were based on the political and technological competition of the 1970s, this goal has regained its place on the agenda today with multinational cooperation, new technologies, and a vision of permanent exploration.