By 2024, NASA will once again land the next man on the lunar surface through the Artemis mission. The Artemis mission is named after the twin sister (goddess of the Moon) of Apollo, the mission that put Neil Armstrong on the Moon. And a fitting name for the mission, too, since it will bring with the first woman to land on the Moon.
NASA's Artemis program aims to explore much of the Moon's surface to pave the way for more sustainable missions by 2028. But the program isn't just all about the Moon -- it is to become a stepping stone to achieve the incredible feat of getting to Mars.
One of the Artemis mission's goals is to use the lunar surface as an engineering field of study. Think of it as a training ground for astronauts. On the Moon, they will be able to practice living in space longer, learn how to build habitat, and practice living and working outside of Earth. All these will be essential to take the next step of going to Mars.
But before heading off to the Red Planet, NASA will first explore the Moon's South Pole in order to find out more about our satellite's water history. The South Pole of the Moon is a particularly interesting area because there are some parts that receive sunlight and some areas that don't, and those are the regions that have the water.
Water consists of two elements: hydrogen and oxygen. On the moon, water can be broken up into those elements, one for breathing and the other for rocket fuel use. One of NASA's plans is to invite commercial partners in order to have access to landers and rowers, and other scientific tools that will help scientists how the Moon and Earth evolved together. The space agency wants to understand the similarities and differences of the Earth, Moon, and Mars.
It is for this reason that space explorations are essential -- so that we'll be able to understand how life exists and how it forms on other planets.
NASA's Artemis mission is divided into parts in order to ensure the safety of its astronauts. The first will be the Artemis I, which is an unmanned flight to test the Space Rocket and Orion spacecraft. It will be followed by the Artemis II, which is basically the crew's test flight, and finally, Artemis III, which will take the crew on the Moon by 2024.
