ARTEMIS II : Mission to moon.
Well good evening, I have so many drafts for this page that I have been so lazy to finish and post so apologies to my non-existant fanbase.
Everyone here is for the Artemis II mission...but what the hell is it?
For the non-science nerds this mission is something you slightly follow online, you might even tune in for the livestream every now and then - but its probably something you deem as too confusing to put energy into focusing on. But to all the science nerds (whether biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, computing etcetc) we are hooked. I've seen videos discussing the mathematics behind this mission (which i am currently in the process of dissecting), overviewing the mission and what this mission means to us. On a slightly emotional note, i have also seen a series of videos of small children watching this mission take place and my heart warms knowing the era of science and discovery is only just beginning! Seeing passion for solving curiosity especially at such small ages is what the world needs to see in difficult times.
With Project Hail Mary nailing scientific accuracy whilst also making everyone cry, this moon mission is like christmas came early. But...what is Artemis II? Why am I only hearing about it now? What is the purpose of this mission? I will answer every question that could arise from this, it has been so interesting to follow along this mission especially when astrophysics and physics in general is one part of science I haven't thoroughly explored - so some of this, I am learning with you guys!!
I want to talk about everything space as artermis II set forth its mission to orbit the moon as a test flight for establishing the lunar pathway for the alleged moon landing in 2028. The Artemis programme has an estimated cost of $93bn to date which seems pretty useless when ackowledging we are not even landing.
However, this programme was outlined by NASA in 2012 - wherein Artemis I (uncrewed) was set to launch in 2017, in order to test the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket (SLS). Background research proves this initial uncrewed mission supposedly attempted to involve a shorter flight time and contain a crew of two - NASA rejected this proposal as cost was a primary reason to keep the investigational flight as uncrewed. Artemis I was eventually launched November 16th 2022, where it reentered earths atmosphere on December 11th 2022. But what did contribute to the ongoing Artemis II mission?
First, Artemis I tested Orion's heat shield and what damage it would undergo when conducting Artemis II. Secondly, in Artemis I contained mannequins to mimic astronauts, equipped with sensors to provide data to what astronauts in Artemis II would experience. Despite confusion, Artemis II is not a lone mission, this mission consists of 5 launches with the last mission consisting of a 30 day mission in late 2028, with a fully crewed landing on the moon.
Artemis II is an 11 day crewed (4 membered) spaceflight mission as the crew does a flyby orbiting the moon. This is a test flight in hopes to successfully return humans to the earth. Though we wouldn't be doing these missions if it wasn't for America's selfish reasons (ahem ahem). We all know America successfully brought the Apollo 13 (crewed) spacecraft to the moon's surface...just to beat the arms race against the Soviet Union in 1970, and be the first to gain lunar land. This new race is now against China who have said they will bring humans to the moon by 2030.
Why does everyone want to go?
The Apollo 13 mission confirmed the creation of the moon being caused by a mars-sized body smashing into earth, and part of the debris from this collision is what we call our moon today. As it was once apart of the earth, it holds 4.5bn years of history in it's rock as bringing a haul of new rock to earth could be the greatest advancement in archeological discovery today! Though that is not why we are going. You cannot own the moon, nor can you own land on the moon - but you can have uninterrupted areas to utilise if you get there first (put your country's flag in the spot you want in, order to secure best lunar real estate). The moon contains (now) rare elements than that of earth, like iron, titanium and helium which are useful for mechanical engineering internationally. Water has also been found in deep craters on the moon where it is specifically cold, as well as contained in minerals on it's surface. Water can be used for drinking and supporting life of astronauts on the moon as it can be broken down and used as fuel and oxygen.
The overall goal of these missions is to put people on the moon to simulate/test how NASA will begin to explore if human life can be supported on Mars for long durations (preferably lifespans). The US has decided that the moon is the safest and most sustainable way to begin this process, as the timeline to hopefully get humanity to Mars (2030) is ambigous and cannot be done safely if this process is rushed. The US needs to work out how to protect it's astronauts against substantial radioactivity and harsh temperatures with habitats maintaining conditions to the likes of earth (e.g. oxygen and water provided for regular respiration). This subsequently leads to the first hurdle to be solved by scientists - how do we power these habitats for substantial periods? The Artemis programme is designed to figure this out.
April 6th 2026 is the day Artemis II orbits the moon! The astronauts will experience a small eclipse as the spacecraft moves behind the moon. During this time, there will be a 40 minute signal loss. This mission has bypassed furthest distance of humans from the earth, reaching 406,772km from earth at 1:57pm EST (Apollo 13 took humans 400,171km from Earth).
I am reporting at 23:40 EST 6/4/26, as the Orion spacecraft, the moon, and the earth is in view. The 40 minutes of signal loss is 1.5 minutes away as the astronauts will be completely alone to conduct lunar observations, study the moon's geology, and simply look at their hard earned reward of dedicating years to this research to be here today.
Christina Koch is the 1st woman in all of history to go to the moon.
(Making this edit, they are now fully behind the moon and are now unreachable by the science team)
We have gone to the moon.
I repeat : WE HAVE GONE TO THE MOON!
I will update frequently (i promise) on milestones, the maths behind this mission and what we have found out! Bye for now.
