NASA Artemis program: Humanity's Baby Steps From Moon And On To Mars
The Artemis program is NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon as a stepping stone for an eventual voyage to Mars.
Twelve men walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972 and one of the goals of Artemis is to put the first woman and person of color on the lunar surface.
The first test flight of an uncrewed Artemis rocket is to take place on Wednesday.
The name Artemis was chosen to echo that of the Apollo program.
Artemis, in Greek mythology, was the twin sister of Apollo and a goddess associated with the Moon.
Here is an overview of the Artemis program:
Artemis 1 is a test flight of the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket and the Orion crew capsule that sits on top.
Blastoff is scheduled for 1:04 am (0604 GMT) on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with a two hour launch window.
Mannequins equipped with sensors will take the place of crew members on the flight, recording vibration, acceleration and radiation levels.
Orion will orbit the Moon before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Planned for 2024, Artemis 2 will be a crewed flight that will orbit the Moon but not land on the surface, similar to what Apollo 8 did.
The four members of the crew will be named before the end of the year. A Canadian is expected to be among them.
The third Artemis mission will be the first to put astronauts on the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
NASA, for the first time, will land a crewed spacecraft on the southern pole of the Moon, where water in the form of ice has been detected.
Previous Moon landings took place near the equator.
Artemis 3 is scheduled for 2025 but may not take place until 2026 at the earliest, according to an independent audit of the program.
Starting with Artemis 3, NASA plans to launch crewed
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