Last week, after months of delays, NASA finally launched Artemis 1 to the Moon. It’s a preliminary mission in the leadup to NASA’s exploration of the Moon and Mars, with hopes to establish a human presence on both. Now, a NASA scientist says that astronauts could live and work on the Moon by 2030.
Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg (which you can’t listen to in Australia without a VPN, BBC account and a UK TV licence), and brought to our attention by The Guardian, the head of NASA’s Orion lunar spacecraft program Howard Hu was optimistic that a lunar base for sending people to and from the Moon could be established by 2030.
“Certainly, in this decade, we are going to have people living for durations, depending on how long we will be on the surface. They will have habitats, they will have rovers on the ground,” Hu said on the program.
“We are going to be sending people down to the surface, and they are going to be living on that surface and doing science.”
What is NASA’s next Moon mission?
Artemis is NASA’s plan to return to the Moon, with Artemis 1 currently in operation and two more missions to come.
Artemis 1 launched on November 16, 2022, with the next mission scheduled for 2024. At the time of writing, Artemis 1 is en route to the Moon to orbit around it before returning to Earth between 26 and 42 days.
Artemis seeks a sustainable and permanent return to the Moon, but in reality, it’s about something far grander. NASA is using the Moon as a test for Mars.
“Our sights are not set on the Moon,” chief astronaut at NASA Johnson, Reid Wiseman, told reporters at a briefing on August 5. “Our sights are clearly set on Mars.”
The technologies and experiences gained during Artemis will prepare NASA and its partners for crewed treks to the Red Planet which could happen in the late 2030s or early 2040s. For all this to happen, however, NASA needs Artemis 1, 2 and 3 to succeed.
When is the next Artemis launch?
NASA has scheduled the launch of Artemis 2 for 2024. It will carry out the same objective as Artemis 1, functioning as a test flight for a future mission, however, this time it will be properly crewed.
Artemis 3, which may happen in 2025, is planned to be the next manned flight to land on the surface of the moon. It’ll be the first manned flight to the moon in over 50 years.
Both Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 will involve SpaceX’s Starship to take their crewed cabins to the Moon and back. These will not be the last Artemis missions, but they’re the only ones scheduled at the moment.
Who is going to the Moon 2025?
We don’t know a lot about the astronauts being sent to the Moon in 2025 (2025 being a tentative date), but NASA has shared some details.
Two astronauts, the first person of colour and the first woman to walk on the Moon, will be sent to the Lunar surface and stay there for about a week as part of the Artemis 3 mission.
What about future Artemis launches?
NASA has said that missions beyond Artemis 3 will involve docking with Gateway, a satellite that’s planned to orbit the Moon and act as a base of operations for NASA and four astronauts at a time.
It’s still being planned by NASA, which is working with commercial partners to have it operational for missions after Artemis 3. NASA is also considering a base camp on the surface of the Moon.
What year will NASA go to Mars?
While missions to the Moon will lead NASA to Mars missions, the space agency hasn’t yet locked in when it’ll be going to the red planet.
Tentatively, NASA is trying to get humans on Mars by the late 2030s to the early 2040s.