How Artemis Will Land Humans on the Moon

Three launch systems and two landers from Boeing, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are all part of the complicated puzzle of NASA’s Artemis program.

Monday, January 06, 2025 at 11:29 AM ET

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The Starship HLS stands like a giant 1950s science-fiction spaceship in this artist’s concept, spanning 30 feet (9 m) wide and reaching 160 feet (50 m) above the Moon’s surface. [Credit: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

The Artemis program is an ambitious, complex international effort to return humans to the Moon, involving multiple spacecraft (Orion, Starship HLS, Blue Moon), launch vehicles (SLS, Super Heavy, New Glenn), and private industry partnerships.
A series of missions are planned, from the already completed uncrewed Artemis 1 and the upcoming crewed lunar flyby Artemis 2 (expected 2025), to the first crewed lunar landing with Artemis 3 (now realistically projected for late 2028).
The program faces significant technical and financial challenges, including development delays for the Orion heat shield, advanced lunar spacesuits, and performance issues with the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket, pushing back initial optimistic timelines.
Despite these substantial obstacles, the article conveys optimism that through sustained national and international will, the Artemis program will ultimately succeed in re-establishing a human presence on the Moon.

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Sixty-five years ago, the USSR shocked the world by sending the first robotic emissary from Earth to the moon. The September 1959 impact of Luna 2 on northeastern Mare Imbrium was a stunning achievement, reaching the moon less than two years after the launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in the Space Age. The event helped ignite the technological firestorm now known as the Space Race between the U.S. and the USSR.

The U.S. responded to the lunar challenge with a flurry of robotic and human explorers. Less than 10 years after Luna 2 reached the moon, Neil Armstrong took his “one small step for mankind” on the Sea of Tranquility.