Overview
- NASA says the first surface return in more than 50 years is targeted for early 2028, with Artemis IV sending two astronauts to the Moon’s South Pole for about a week of science work.
- To prove the critical docking steps before that mission, the agency added a mid‑2027 demonstration that will fly Orion on SLS to practice rendezvous with SpaceX and Blue Origin landers in Earth orbit.
- Artemis II completed a crewed lunar flyby that validated Orion and mission operations, set a new human‑distance mark of 252,756 miles, and passed through a 40‑minute blackout behind the Moon.
- The flight carried the first woman, the first person of color, and the first non‑American to make such a journey, and Commander Reid Wiseman said the experience left him in tears when he met a Navy chaplain after splashdown.
- NASA frames these steps as building a sustained presence on and around the Moon with SLS, Orion, and commercial landers, while preparing for human missions to Mars in the 2030s and eyeing rival lunar timelines.