A NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) recently announced that it will make a new flight to the moon in February 2026. This will be an important milestone for the resumption of manned space exploration. The Artemis mission 2 is scheduled to take place in 5 of February of 2026 and will have four astronauts aboard the Orion capsule.
The flight will fly over the natural satellite, although, no landing, being launched by the SLS rocket (Space Launch System). The crew will be made up of North American astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman e Christina Koch, besides Jeremy Hansen, from the Canadian Space Agency. The agency's last manned mission to the moon took place more than 50 years, with the Apollo project 17.
Since this time, no other human mission has returned to the moon. Now, with the Artemis program, the space agency NASA seeks to validate the systems of the Orion spacecraft and the SLS rocket, ensuring they are prepared for long-duration operations. The objective is for man to be able to land on the lunar surface in 2027, resuming lunar exploration.
Safety first
At a press conference this Tuesday (23), Lakiesha Hawkins, acting deputy administrator of NASA's Exploration Systems Development and Mission Directorate, highlighted that the priority is the safety of the crew. “As we work on these operational preparations, while we finish loading the rocket, We continue to evaluate to ensure that everything is being done safely”, Hawkins said.
The Artemis program began in 2022, with the Artemis mission 1, which tested the Orion spacecraft on a long-term flight. Since then, NASA has made progress in preparing Artemis 2, whose SLS rocket is under construction by Boeing in the Vehicle Assembly Building, in Florida. The thrusters are developed by Northrop Grumman, and the official presentation of the rocket is scheduled for this October.
