Just as we sit down for dinner tomorrow night, four astronauts may be getting launched deeper into space than any human being has ever been.
Driving the news: NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to launch as soon as tomorrow evening (though these things do often get rescheduled), marking the start of a 10-day trip around the moon and the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled to the lunar vicinity. Canadian Jeremy Hansen will be one of the four astronauts on board the rocket.
Assuming the mission goes to plan, Artemis II will set the record for the farthest humans have ever travelled from Earth.
Catch-up: The astronauts won’t be landing on the moon this time, but will be testing equipment, conducting experiments, and gathering information that will help figure out what will be needed for the dozens of lunar missions planned for the next decade.
Those tests include monitoring the astronauts' health. They will track workouts (they have a special machine to do dead lifts), their food intake (which includes brisket and quiche), and their sleep quality (the target is eight hours in a hammock).
Why it matters: NASA isn’t returning to the moon for the sake of planting another flag — the goal of the Artemis missions is to eventually build a base on the lunar surface that would allow humans to live, work, and launch more flights deeper into space.
Last week, NASA announced a US$20 billion plan to build that moon base, including habitats that can sustain human life and energy infrastructure like nuclear reactors. The holy grail of the mission is to eventually launch trips to Mars from the moon.
What’s next: If the Artemis II mission goes off without a hitch, NASA is planning to land people on the moon in 2028, although some spaceflight experts are skeptical that a two-year timeline is realistic.—LA
