Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Artemis program intends to send humans around the Moon for the first time since 1972. This involves flying into deep space—and seeing parts of the Moon never before seen with human eyes. Why?
Learn more from Britannica:
The Artemis Program: britannica.com/topic/Artemis-program
Will Artemis II Land on the Moon? britannica.com/science/Will-Artemis-II-Land-on-the-Moon
What's the Purpose of Artemis II? britannica.com/question/What-is-the-purpose-of-the-Artemis-II-mission
Who Are the Crew Members of Artemis II? britannica.com/question/Who-are-the-crew-members-of-Artemis-II
~~~
#EncyclopaediaBritannica
Inspiring curiosity and the joy of learning since 1768.
Web: britannica.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Britannica
Twitter: twitter.com/Britannica
Instagram: instagram.com/Britannica
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/britannica.com
~~
Transcript:
Artemis II is just really cool. It's a very big deal. I don't know how you're gonna work that in, but. Artemis II is our first crewed flight test of NASA's Artemis campaign. So we had Artemis one a couple of years ago. Artemis One was an incredible mission, extremely successful, but there were no humans on board.We had a couple of mannequins on board, and they helped collect data about radiation and vibration inside of the cabin. But it's a very different thing entirely when there are actual human beings on board.
The main objective of the Artemis II mission is to evaluate the crewed performance of the deep space exploration system, and so a huge part of the mission is really evaluating the critical life support systems aboard Orion in order to help prepare us for future Artemis missions that will eventually land people on the moon.
We have eye on the horizon for human Martian missions, and so all of the data that we collect during this mission will help prepare us for that eventual giant leap to Mars. About 20m off the surface, there are four astronauts flying aboard Artemis II. Three NASA astronauts, and there is one Canadian Space Agency astronaut.
The spacecraft has a habitable cubic volume of 330 cubic feet. So that's four people and about two minivans of space. So it's a little cramped. I think, like, pretty much every minute of their schedule is accounted for. Artemis II will be about ten days. We have maneuvers that get the spacecraft on the path, the trajectory it needs to be on.
We also have demonstrations aboard the mission. During the lunar flyby, the astronauts will be making lunar observations. Of course, they need time to eat, to rest, to exercise. Being in weightlessness, it affects bone density and muscle mass. So it's very important that they all exercise every day.
And of course, we have time for them to just relax, right? It's been over 50 years since we've sent human beings to the vicinity of the moon. There's a lot of differences between now and then. NASA had Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972, and these missions all landed within the equatorial region of the moon, which means like the center of the moon, the moon's equator.
The Artemis missions will land astronauts in the lunar south pole region of the moon, and the objective is pretty different. With the Apollo missions, we went and we came back. We collected samples. We picked up rocks and soil, we left behind footprints at lunar rovers. But the difference with Artemis missions is that we're really trying to live and work on the moon and build a lunar presence there.
We're actually flying around the moon in a totally different way than we did with the Apollo missions. The way that Artemis II flies around the moon. We will actually have our astronauts seeing parts of the moon that have never been seen before, with human eyes. We've imaged every square inch of the moon, but it's a totally different thing.
Eyes are a lot more sensitive to things like shade and tone and color and texture. And so these things can help inform lunar geologists, back on Earth. The mission will actually be taking the astronauts into deep space. So when they fly around the moon, they're flying well beyond the moon, and they're flying deeper into space than perhaps we ever have before.
We actually set the record for how far human beings have flown away from the Earth during the Apollo 13 mission. Depending on when we launch, those astronauts on Artemis II might be breaking that record. As we send astronauts into deep space, during this mission, we want to monitor how the deep space environment affects the human body and performance.
And the goal, again, as I said, is to help us prepare for future crewed missions to Mars. So all of these long duration missions, these spaceflights, help us collect data on what will be the best way for us to eventually send people to Mars, which is, by the way, a lot farther away from Earth than the moon. So everything we can do now prepares us for the future.
The Artemis program intends to send humans around the Moon for the first time since 1972. This involves flying into deep space—and seeing parts of the Moon never before seen with human eyes. Why?
Learn more from Britannica:
The Artemis Program: britannica.com/topic/Artemis-program
Will Artemis II Land on the Moon? britannica.com/science/Will-Artemis-II-Land-on-the-Moon
What's the Purpose of Artemis II? britannica.com/question/What-is-the-purpose-of-the-Artemis-II-mission
Who Are the Crew Members of Artemis II? britannica.com/question/Who-are-the-crew-members-of-Artemis-II
~~~
#EncyclopaediaBritannica
Inspiring curiosity and the joy of learning since 1768.
Web: britannica.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Britannica
Twitter: twitter.com/Britannica
Instagram: instagram.com/Britannica
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/britannica.com
~~
Transcript:
Artemis II is just really cool. It's a very big deal. I don't know how you're gonna work that in, but. Artemis II is our first crewed flight test of NASA's Artemis campaign. So we had Artemis one a couple of years ago. Artemis One was an incredible mission, extremely successful, but there were no humans on board.We had a couple of mannequins on board, and they helped collect data about radiation and vibration inside of the cabin. But it's a very different thing entirely when there are actual human beings on board.
The main objective of the Artemis II mission is to evaluate the crewed performance of the deep space exploration system, and so a huge part of the mission is really evaluating the critical life support systems aboard Orion in order to help prepare us for future Artemis missions that will eventually land people on the moon.
We have eye on the horizon for human Martian missions, and so all of the data that we collect during this mission will help prepare us for that eventual giant leap to Mars. About 20m off the surface, there are four astronauts flying aboard Artemis II. Three NASA astronauts, and there is one Canadian Space Agency astronaut.
The spacecraft has a habitable cubic volume of 330 cubic feet. So that's four people and about two minivans of space. So it's a little cramped. I think, like, pretty much every minute of their schedule is accounted for. Artemis II will be about ten days. We have maneuvers that get the spacecraft on the path, the trajectory it needs to be on.
We also have demonstrations aboard the mission. During the lunar flyby, the astronauts will be making lunar observations. Of course, they need time to eat, to rest, to exercise. Being in weightlessness, it affects bone density and muscle mass. So it's very important that they all exercise every day.
And of course, we have time for them to just relax, right? It's been over 50 years since we've sent human beings to the vicinity of the moon. There's a lot of differences between now and then. NASA had Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972, and these missions all landed within the equatorial region of the moon, which means like the center of the moon, the moon's equator.
The Artemis missions will land astronauts in the lunar south pole region of the moon, and the objective is pretty different. With the Apollo missions, we went and we came back. We collected samples. We picked up rocks and soil, we left behind footprints at lunar rovers. But the difference with Artemis missions is that we're really trying to live and work on the moon and build a lunar presence there.
We're actually flying around the moon in a totally different way than we did with the Apollo missions. The way that Artemis II flies around the moon. We will actually have our astronauts seeing parts of the moon that have never been seen before, with human eyes. We've imaged every square inch of the moon, but it's a totally different thing.
Eyes are a lot more sensitive to things like shade and tone and color and texture. And so these things can help inform lunar geologists, back on Earth. The mission will actually be taking the astronauts into deep space. So when they fly around the moon, they're flying well beyond the moon, and they're flying deeper into space than perhaps we ever have before.
We actually set the record for how far human beings have flown away from the Earth during the Apollo 13 mission. Depending on when we launch, those astronauts on Artemis II might be breaking that record. As we send astronauts into deep space, during this mission, we want to monitor how the deep space environment affects the human body and performance.
And the goal, again, as I said, is to help us prepare for future crewed missions to Mars. So all of these long duration missions, these spaceflights, help us collect data on what will be the best way for us to eventually send people to Mars, which is, by the way, a lot farther away from Earth than the moon. So everything we can do now prepares us for the future.
