WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – 55 years after the first moon landing, NASA leaders are preparing for the next mission to the moon.
Artemis II is scheduled to orbit around the moon no earlier than September 2025. Right now, NASA is ferrying one of the rocket stages for that mission from New Orleans to Florida.
“We’re not going back to the moon just to go, because we did that 50 years ago,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Nelson said Artemis III, scheduled to launch no earlier than September 2026, is planned for the moon’s south pole.
“If there is water in abundance, then we can create rocket fuel,” Nelson said. “And, oh, boy! What an extraordinary thing.”
The NASA Administrator said his agency won’t stop at the moon.
“We’re going back to the moon, to the south pole, to learn, to live, to create, to invent, so that we can go to Mars with humans,” Nelson said.
NASA’s Artemis missions will use the Space Launch System rocket with an Orion capsule. The capsule will take the astronauts to a lunar orbit, according to NASA’s mission plan. A SpaceX lander will take the astronauts to the surface of the moon.
Nelson said the south pole presents unique challenges for NASA.
“It’s almost like we’re going to a different moon,” Nelson said. “There are constant shadows in any depression like a crater. As a result, you have to be very precise in your landing.”
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee passed a NASA Reauthorization bill out of committee this month. Committee Chairman Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said it’s the first comprehensive reauthorization bill for NASA in more than seven years.
Lucas and other members of the committee warned about adversaries in a 21st century space race.
“We need to do all that we can to ensure that the U.S. remains the leader in space,” Lucas said. “Just last month, China returned rock samples from the far side of the moon. They’re pursuing a land base on the far side of the moon.”
China’s government said leaders want Chinese astronauts on the moon by 2030.