After more than 50 years, NASA astronauts are going back to the moon

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This month, NASA is aiming to motorboat 4 astronauts atop a 32-story rocket connected a 10-day ngo astir the acold broadside of the moon. The formation of Artemis II volition beryllium NASA's archetypal quality ngo to the satellite since Apollo 17, 53 years ago. NASA sees it arsenic a captious stepping chromatic toward its eventual goal: landing astronauts connected the lunar aboveground again, establishing a sustained beingness determination and utilizing the satellite arsenic a gateway to aboriginal Mars missions. After a fig of delays, President Trump acceptable a extremity of returning Americans to the satellite by 2028, portion China plans a lunar landing by 2030, making Artemis II a cardinal limb successful a 21st period abstraction race.

For a satellite rocket this massive, this is what 1 tiny measurement looks like. About 2 weeks ago, we went to Kennedy Space Center successful Florida to spot the three-and-a-half cardinal lb SLS rocket, crowned by the Orion unit capsule, rotation retired atop an Apollo-era crawler, inching 4 miles from the assembly gathering to the motorboat pad – apical speed, little than 1 mile an hour. Hundreds of employees, who worked connected this – NASA's astir almighty rocket – brought their families to spot their towering achievement. Also there, the 4 astronauts who volition marque a solitary arc astir the moon. We met them astatine motorboat pad 39b.

Bill Whitaker: What bash you consciousness erstwhile you spot that?

Reid Wiseman: A lotta pride. A lotta pridefulness for the nation, and a lotta pridefulness for the planetary partnerships that person enactment this happening together.

Reid Wiseman is the ngo commander. His unit includes aviator Victor Glover and 2 ngo specialists: Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch.

Christina Koch: This is benignant of a monument to the information that we arsenic humans decided to determination resources into sending radical disconnected the planet. And that's conscionable an astonishing happening to me, an astonishing happening to beryllium a portion of.

Koch, Wiseman and Glover person each experienced the wonders of abstraction connected committee the International Space Station. Hansen, an experienced combatant aviator from our long-time abstraction spouse Canada, has ne'er earlier gone into orbit.

Jeremy Hansen: I wonder, "What is that truly gonna look like? And what is that gonna consciousness like?" I person this consciousness that-- it can't not interaction your psyche to spot the Earth from the position of the w-- moon.

Bill Whitaker: So if each goes according to plan, you are going to beryllium the archetypal astronauts to question to the satellite successful much than fractional a century. What's going done your minds?

Victor Glover: Don't screw it up. I'm-- I'm joking, but partially not joking. You know. But I deliberation the existent happening contiguous is what it took to get that rocket retired to the pad. And truthful I anticipation our squad is-- is celebrating this, due to the fact that it's a large portion of, you know, the adjacent happening to come.

Bill Whitaker: The United States has been to the satellite respective times. Why is it important for america to spell back?

Christina Koch: So galore countries close present are realizing the worth successful what we tin bring backmost by going to the moon. The manufacture gains, the cognition gains, the technological gains, the inspiration gains. There's truthful overmuch to summation that I'm blessed that we are starring the mode back.

Artemis II is meant to laic the groundwork for aboriginal Artemis missions that volition enactment Americans backmost connected the satellite and found a lunar abstraction station. The 4 Artemis II astronauts volition sling astir the acold broadside of the satellite successful the Orion capsule conscionable astir 5,000 miles supra its aboveground earlier heading backmost home. This ngo is to trial whether the rocket, life-support systems and unit controls enactment arsenic designed.

For the crew, this has been astir 3 years successful the making. They trained successful simulators and learned to unrecorded and enactment wrong the cramped Orion capsule.

Artemis I, which flew successful 2022 without a crew, was a full-system trial formation to beryllium the rocket and capsule are ngo acceptable for humans to question astir the satellite and back.

It splashed down safely successful the Pacific. But connected inspection, engineers recovered the vigor shield was damaged connected re-entry, though the interior of the capsule was not.

Bill Whitaker: Is determination a level of interest astir the vigor shield connected this one?

Reid Wiseman: You're hitting Earth's ambiance astatine astir 39 to 40 times the velocity of sound. There is concern.

Reid Wiseman: We're gonna modify our introduction trajectory. We're really gonna travel successful a small spot hotter, a small spot faster than Artemis I. And based connected the issues that we had with the vigor shield, that volition support america safe.

Bill Whitaker: I cognize you expect that everything is going to spell according to plan. But what are your concerns?

Jeff Radigan: I'm sorry, Bill, was that a-- was that a gag that everything goes to-- to plan?

According to pb formation director, Jeff Radigan, a flawless ngo is NASA's never-ending quest.

Jeff Radigan: I expect things volition spell precise well, and I besides expect there's gonna beryllium thing unexpected. I deliberation each abstraction ngo we've flown thing has travel up, and we've had to woody with it.

Radigan told america helium has large assurance successful the Artemis II ngo and crew. NASA's situation is what comes next: getting Artemis III astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon's surface. To bash that, NASA, successful 2021, awarded a astir $3 cardinal declaration to Elon Musk's SpaeX for the lunar lander mentation of its Starship, the biggest, astir almighty motorboat conveyance ever built. Made of 2 components, the lunar lander volition beryllium atop the reusable ace dense booster.

After respective spectacular failures and explosions, the starship rebounded with palmy launches this past August and October. But the setbacks and method complexity person contributed to the hold successful America's instrumentality to the moon's surface. NASA's people for putting American astronauts backmost connected the satellite is present 2028.

Bill Whitaker: Are we going to marque that?

Jeff Radigan: I deliberation there's a-- batch of things that request to hap to marque that successful. You know, archetypal step, alert Artemis II, and I'll archer you, I walk astir of my clip connected this mission. But we're gonna request our SpaceX partners to-- to get a lander retired determination for us, get backmost down to the aboveground of the moon.

Artemis whitethorn beryllium Apollo's mythological twin, but upcoming missions with SpaceX carnivore small resemblance. For example, the monolithic SpaceX lander that volition rendezvous with the unit successful lunar orbit has to beryllium refueled successful space, a analyzable process requiring the motorboat of 10 oregon much substance tankers. Nothing similar this has ever been done before. Elon Musk says it's needed to propel heavy abstraction exploration.

Elon Musk (at SpaceX successful January 2026): And we privation to person epic futuristic spaceships with tons of radical successful 'em, traveling to places we've ne'er been to before.

But archetypal helium has to get Starship to the moon. With the complexity and delays, NASA has doubts SpaceX tin conscionable the president's timeframe and is seeking a program b.

Jim Bridenstine (before Congress successful September 2025): The intent of this proceeding is, you know, are we going to beryllium capable to get to the satellite first?

Jim Bridenstine was NASA head successful President Trump's archetypal word and launched the Artemis program. This past September, helium told Congress America's satellite landing strategy has since grown excessively complicated.

Jim Bridenstine (before Congress successful September 2025): It is extraordinarily complex. In immoderate cases– you know, it, it, it, it, it- hinges connected us- maine saying present contiguous that it is highly improbable that we volition onshore connected the satellite earlier China.

Bill Whitaker: What would it mean if China were to enactment humans backmost connected the satellite first?

Dr. Scott Pace: Of people it would beryllium massively embarrassing.

Scott Pace was enforcement caput of the National Space Council during the archetypal Trump medication and helped NASA make the Artemis program. He says establishing a beingness connected the satellite is important. who gets determination archetypal this period is not.

Dr. Scott Pace: I don't downplay the embarrassment and atrocious headlines and everything other that would travel from the Chinese, you know, returning to the satellite earlier we're capable to bash so. That said, from a longer word strategical approach, that is simply a comparatively abbreviated quality story, whereas who sets the rules for the abstraction domain, who is determination permanently, that's a communicative for the adjacent century.

Pace told america the contention with China should unit NASA to rethink what helium calls an unwieldy and costly approach. The bureau spends much than $2 cardinal connected each single-use SLS rocket, portion backstage companies, helium says, are pursuing a much sustainable way with reusable components similar SpaceX has demonstrated for a decade. He encourages commercialized competition, which is intensifying among cosmic 1 percenters. After NASA called for a backup lander plan, Musk's SpaceX posted that it is "assessing a simplified ngo architecture." On Friday, Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin announced astatine slightest a 2 twelvemonth intermission of its abstraction tourism flights to absorption connected satellite missions.

In November, Blue Origin sent its almighty New Glenn rocket into orbit and returned the booster to a level successful the Atlantic - a archetypal for Blue Origin.

John Couluris: To bring backmost that archetypal signifier was crippled changing. Because now, similar an airplane, you're present capable to reuse that vehicle.

John Couluris is elder vice president of lunar permanence astatine Blue Origin. NASA tapped the institution to make a quality lunar lander for aboriginal missions. With the artemis programme down schedule, NASA is pressing contractors to prime up the pace.

John Couluris: So it's nationalist cognition that NASA asked each the Artemis vendors on, "How tin we accelerate our efforts?"

Couluris showed america the archetypal and smaller iteration of Blue Origin's lander – the Mark 1. This unmanned cargo lander volition beryllium the company's archetypal conveyance to onshore connected the moon.

John Couluris: So this conveyance volition beryllium the largest and heaviest lander to ever onshore connected the moon.

The astir 30-foot-tall lander is wrapped successful gold-colored insulation to support it from star vigor and radiation. Until present the lander has been kept nether wraps. Our cameras were the archetypal allowed to spot it. Coulouris told us, aboriginal this year, Blue Origin's caller Glenn rocket volition transportation the Mark 1 into abstraction to descend to the southbound rod of the moon.

John Couluris: The crushed for that is there's crystal there. So we tin instrumentality that crystal and make h2o to prolong humans, to interruption that h2o down into propellants to past substance aboriginal vehicles that past tin spell from the satellite to anyplace other successful the star system.

Bill Whitaker: What bash you deliberation astir this moment?

John Couluris: It's incredible. Artemis II represents that archetypal effort successful decades of heavy abstraction exploration of humans. I- I can't hold for them to go.

The Artemis II astronauts could alert deeper into abstraction than immoderate humans ever, astir 250,000 miles from Earth. and erstwhile the spacecraft goes down the moon, the astronauts volition beryllium retired of each interaction with world for astir 40 minutes. Flight manager Jeff Radigan told america he'll beryllium counting the seconds.

Bill Whitaker: If thing should spell awry, you've got the lives of 4 astronauts connected your hands.

Jeff Radigan: I do. It's a dense weight, and I deliberation astir that each day. You know, my occupation is to bring Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy location safely. These are my colleagues, these are my friends and-- they're my responsibility.

Bill Whitaker: There volition beryllium a play of astir 40 minutes erstwhile you volition beryllium retired of interaction with the Earth?

Victor Glover: That's erstwhile we volition beryllium closest to the moon, farthest from the earth. But it besides is simply a quality moment, you know? And I would emotion for america to have-- a infinitesimal of togetherness, for humans to conscionable go, "Hey, there's a portion of humanity that's not successful interaction with the remainder of us, and let's conscionable get 'em each back, and past we tin spell backmost to the hustle and bustle." But I anticipation that that inspires folks to conscionable person a infinitesimal of togetherness.

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