With NASA's Artemis I Orion spacecraft back on Earth, the space agency has begun to look ahead to the next milestone in its quest to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon with commercial and international partners.Planned for launch in 2024, Artemis Ⅱ is to transport a crew of four astronauts around the Moon to test the spacecraft's life-support systems in preparation for Artemis Ⅲ, a landing at the lunar south pole with two astronauts-the first post-Apollo human visit to the Moon's surface."One of the things we have been talking about is when to assign the crew," says NASA's Vanessa Wyche, director of Johnson Space Center (JSC), home to the nation's astronaut corps and Mission Control. "There are still some things that need to be learned as we get the spacecraft back to Florida. But our intent, if all is still 'go' and all looks good, is to name the crew in early 2023."Following a Dec. 11 splashdown at 12:40 p.m. EST off the coast of Baja California, the uncrewed Orion spacecraft spent about 2 hr. floating upright in the ocean, while flight controllers logged data on how the capsule's heat shield responded to the 5.000F temperatures of reentry.
展开▼
