Artemis II Advances: NASA Prepares First Crewed Lunar Mission Since Apollo Era
After 53 years, the US space agency NASA is set to send astronauts to the Moon once again. The mission, named ‘Artemis II’, will include three men and one woman. It will be the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The launch is scheduled for today at 6:24 PM local time (4:24 AM Bangladesh time) from Florida. The mission crew includes US astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen. For the first time, a woman, a Black astronaut, and a non-American astronaut will be part of a lunar mission.
During the approximately 10-day mission, the spacecraft will orbit the Moon without landing and then return to Earth. Officials expect that this mission will pave the way for a lunar landing by 2028. The launch will be conducted using NASA’s new SLS rocket.
The Artemis program aims to establish a permanent base on the Moon and support future missions to Mars. After several delays, the mission is now moving forward, overcoming technical challenges.
DBTech/BMT/OR
