Artemis Archives

NASA’s Artemis program is an attempt to land humans on the moon for the first time in almost 50 years. The program is largely the result of Space Policy Directive 1, which tasked NASA with focusing more time on getting back to the moon.

Named after the Greek goddess of the moon, the Artemis program is planned to get a human on the moon by as early as 2024. Artemis I is set to launch in November 2021 with the goal of sending the Orion spacecraft into a retrograde orbit around the moon to test its viability. Artemis II will launch two years later with the same objective, except this time, there will be a crew aboard. Artemis III is set to launch in 2024 and will be the mission that finally puts another human on the moon.

NASA plans on using what they learn from visiting the moon to help take the next giant leap that is visiting Mars.

On the anniversary of Alan Shepard’s historic flight, SpaceX lands Starship SN15 successfully

Seth Kurkowski - May 5th 2021 4:42 pm PT @SethKurk

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Today marks the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard’s fateful flight, now today will mark another first. The first successful landing of a Starship vehicle by SpaceX.

How many people are in space right now?

Zac Hall - May 2nd 2021 12:01 am PT @apollozac

Artemis International Space Station Featured Astronauts Cosmonauts

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The International Space Station is designed to always be crewed by cosmonauts and astronauts. For this reason, women and men have been living and working in space constantly since the first Expedition mission in the year 2000. So how many people are in space right now?

Petition created to name NASA’s Lunar Gateway after Michael Collins

Seth Kurkowski - Apr 30th 2021 11:22 am PT

Earlier this week we lost a great hero of NASA’s space program and now a petition for a great way to honor him is out there.

SpaceX Starship as NASA’s Artemis lunar human landing system tidbits

Zac Hall - Apr 16th 2021 6:27 pm PT @apollozac

NASA SpaceX Artemis Starship

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NASA is buying SpaceX’s Starship rocket a $2.9 billion ticket to the Moon, and the ramifications of that decision are plentiful. The Washington Post was first to report that Starship is NASA’s sole choice for the Artemis human landing system for astronauts going to the Moon. The agency later held a press conference with reporters during which it made the news official while adding more color to the story. NASA has also published a source selection statement written by Kathy Lueders detailing specifics around its decision.

NASA selects SpaceX to develop human landing system for Artemis moon mission using Starship

Zac Hall - Apr 16th 2021 10:46 am PT @apollozac

NASA SpaceX Artemis Starship SLS

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NASA is actively working on Artemis, a space exploration program that includes a mission to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon during this decade. Astronauts will travel from Earth in NASA’s Orion spacecraft which will launch on the space agency’s Space Launch System rocket. SLS gives Orion the boost it needs to reach the Moon, but Orion doesn’t touch down on the lunar surface. A third vehicle called a human landing system is needed to transport astronauts to the surface of the Moon. One year ago, NASA selected three potential partners for providing the human landing system for Artemis 3, the first mission in the program that includes walking on the Moon.

Later today, the U.S. space agency will officially announce which partner it will proceed in funding for development. Ace Washington Post space reporter and author Christian Davenport has scooped the 4 p.m. EDT press conference with source selection details. According to Davenport, SpaceX has won the contract with its Starship-based human landing system bid.

[Update: Test Window Announced] Artemis I booster stacking is now complete; Awaits first Core Stage

Seth Kurkowski - Mar 15th 2021 7:37 am PT @SethKurk

NASA Artemis SLS

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Over the last few years, the pieces of NASA’s Artemis I mission have slowly been making their way to Kennedy Space Center for final checkouts and stacking. For the past couple of months, NASA has been preparing to receive the final parts of the rocket with the first step towards a fully stacked SLS finishing the other day.

SpaceX selected to launch the first modules for NASA’s lunar outpost

Seth Kurkowski - Feb 13th 2021 12:13 pm PT @SethKurk

NASA SpaceX Artemis Gateway Falcon Heavy

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A key part of NASA’s Artemis program is Gateway, a lunar outpost 1/6 the size of its cousin the International Space Station. It will be used as the orbital research lab for Earth-faring astronauts destined to explore the lunar surface and possibly as a rest stop for those heading to Mars. The first two modules are planned to launch in 2024 on top of the party pleaser Falcon Heavy rocket.

SLS: NASA says aborted hot fire test met several goals of the test and clarifies cryo-cycling concern

Seth Kurkowski - Jan 21st 2021 9:26 am PT @SethKurk

NASA Artemis SLS Artemis I

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After the SLS Core Stage hot fire test that aborted just over a minute into the test, it was uncertain what objectives were met and if they would need to do a second test fire. During the second press conference Tuesday afternoon, concerns arose about the Core Stage reaching its cryo-cycling limit before the launch but today NASA shares the Core Stage and Artemis 1 timeline may be in better shape than first thought.

Why did Space Launch System’s Green Run hot fire test abruptly end early? NASA can explain …

Seth Kurkowski - Jan 20th 2021 10:30 am PT @SethKurk

NASA Artemis SLS

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NASA released a statement this week detailing information about some of the findings that contributed to the early shutdown of the Artemis 1 Core Stage during the Green Run Hot Fire test on Saturday. The test was originally supposed to last about 8 minutes, but ended up only lasting 67.2 seconds, far short of the minimum amount of time needed to certify the core.

[UPDATED] NASA’s upgraded mobile launcher for larger Space Launch System rocket moving forward

Jared Locke - Jan 18th 2021 10:46 am PT @baserunner0723

NASA Artemis SLS mobile launcher Bechtel

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NASA recently submitted a permit detailing facility construction and modification plans to support its next Mobile Launch Platform for Space Launch System, the agency’s nearly complete rocket to the Moon. We first have to go back to where SLS all started with the Constellation program to understand why NASA is building a new Mobile Launch Platform.

The current Mobile Launcher, ML-1, was initially built for the Constellation program between 2009 and 2010. When the Constellation program was canned in October 2010, NASA started reworking ML-1 to support their new program for the Space Launch System. With the increased complexity and weight of SLS, issues quickly began to arise.

Artemis program

NASA's 21st century plan to return to the moon