With NASA’s Artemis II mission ready and waiting on the launch pad, it’s almost time for humans to return to the Moon for the first time since 1972.
The mission will take a crew of four astronauts – commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) – on a 10-day journey around the Moon before safely returning them to Earth.
The Artemis Program was established in 2017, with the aim of returning humans to the Moon, including the first woman and first person of colour.
Should everything go well, then the next mission, Artemis III, will set down two astronauts on the lunar surface, potentially as soon as 2028.
The launch window for Artemis II runs from 1 to 6 April. While we wait for the countdown timer to hit zero, here are 22 of the most mind-blowing facts about Artemis II.
1. Some truly wild historical artefacts will be hitching a ride on the mission
These include a 1-inch square of fabric from the plane used in the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight in 1903, and an American flag that previously flew on the first and last Space Shuttle missions, as well as the first piloted test of the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
There’s even a flag that was supposed to fly onboard the cancelled Apollo 18 mission that’s now finally visiting the Moon half a century later.
There will also be a memory card, containing the names of millions of people as part of NASA’s mission to bring as many people along for the ride as possible.
2. Artemis II is almost exactly the same height as Big Ben
Rising 30 storeys high – 98m (322ft) to be precise – NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket stands 2m (7ft) taller than the famous clock tower.
When fully fuelled, the rocket weighs 2,600 tonnes (5.76 million lbs), which sounds like a lot until you realise Big Ben is estimated to weigh 13,700 tonnes (30 million lbs). However, no one is planning to launch the London landmark into space. At least not yet.
3. The crew will travel farther from Earth than any other humans before them.
The flight path will take Artemis II around 402,000km (250,000 miles) away from Earth, beating the record set by Apollo 13 of 400,171km (248,655 miles).
The total journey will be over one million km (620,000 miles). That’s equivalent to driving coast to coast across the US more than 200 times.
4. On their return, the astronauts will be the fastest humans in 50 years.
When the crew re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, they will be tearing along at around 40,000km/h (25,000mph). At that speed, you could fly from New York to Los Angeles in under six minutes.
They might even beat the previous record of 39,938km/h (24,816mph) set by Apollo 10.
5. The crew will spend 10 days in a space the size of two minivans
The four crew are flying to the Moon inside an Orion Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle, all working, eating and sleeping in the same space.
They will have some privacy, however, as there is a separate ‘hygiene bay’ a.k.a. toilet.
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6. The astronauts won’t have to drink their own pee
On the ISS, urine is recycled back into drinking water, but as Artemis II is only a short mission, the crew will instead flush their urine out into space.
Their faeces, meanwhile, will be stored and disposed of once they’re back on Earth.
7. The rocket will use up a terrifying amount of fuel
The SLS’s two solid booster rockets will burn through six tonnes of propellant every second, creating more thrust than 14 jumbo jets.
Meanwhile, the core stage will burn through 2.8 million litres (733,000 gallons) of liquid hydrogen and oxygen.
Altogether, the rocket will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust over the eight minutes it takes to reach orbit.
8. During re-entry, the outside of the spacecraft will heat up to around 2,750ºC (5,000ºF)
That’s about half the temperature of the Sun’s surface. The crew will be protected by a heat shield, which will keep the capsule at a comfortable room temperature.
9. None of the crew was alive when the last Moon landing happened.
Reid Wiseman, the oldest member of the crew, was born in 1975, three years after Eugene Cernan took the last ever step on the Moon during Apollo 17.
10. The rocket’s engines previously launched 22 Space Shuttle missions.
In an effort to reduce costs, NASA has reused as much hardware as possible.
Three engines onboard the orange core stage of the SLS are refurbished Shuttle engines, and all four engines contain at least one component that flew on the first Space Shuttle back in 1981.
11. The first non-American is travelling to the Moon
Despite being selected as a Canadian astronaut way back in 2009, Jeremy Hansen will be heading to space for the first time on this mission.
He’s spent the last 17 years training, conducting practice missions in deep caves and underwater, and teaching other astronauts.
12. The Artemis II astronauts will view parts of the Moon never seen by human eyes before
The crew will get to look down on the lunar far side, something only the Apollo astronauts have ever done before.
However, the Artemis II crew will be the first humans to glimpse the Moon’s south pole – the site where future landing missions hope to touch down.
The Moon will appear about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length, and they’ll have just three hours to make observations.
13. Christina Koch will be the first woman to visit the Moon
The mission specialist is the most experienced member of the crew, with 328 days in space under her belt – the longest single spaceflight for a woman.
14. The spacecraft will follow a similar flight path to the one that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts
After spending two days in Earth orbit, Artemis II will fire its thrusters to enter a ‘free return trajectory’ – a figure-8 path that uses the gravity of the Moon and Earth to guide it around the lunar far-side and then return home.
It uses a lot less fuel than other paths, which is how Apollo 13 was able to follow it after an explosion left them with limited fuel.
15. The crew will practice ‘parking’ in space
While still in Earth orbit, shortly after detaching from the final rocket stage, the Orion module will do an automated backflip.
The crew will then take control, using the final stage as a target while they rehearse moving Orion away and towards it, coming as close as 9m (30ft).
Future landing missions will have to perform similar manoeuvres to dock with the Human Landing System that will carry the crew to the surface.
Fortunately, space is pretty empty, so the crew don’t have to worry too much about checking their blind spot for any cyclists.
16. Pilot Victor Glover will become the first person of colour to travel to the Moon
It’s not the first time Glover has piloted a new spacecraft, having previously flown the first operational flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon module in November 2020.
Before joining NASA, Glover was a US Navy test pilot, where his call sign was 'Ike', short for ‘I know everything’.
17. There will be a ‘low crumb’ menu
Space food has come a long way since the tubes of goo early astronauts were forced to eat.
The crew were allowed to select their preferred menu from a wide variety of options, including chicken curry, shrimp cocktail and chocolate pudding.
One thing they all have in common, however, is that they don’t make crumbs, as these can float away and get into the sensitive workings of the spacecraft.
18. Commander Reid Wiseman has already taken thousands of photos of Earth
During his previous 165-day-long stay on the International Space Station, Wiseman spent much of his free time looking out the station’s cupola window, down on the world below.
Now, he’ll get the chance to photograph the Moon up close as well.
19. A laser ‘radio’ will communicate with Earth
When travelling so far from home, it’s important to keep in contact. As well as the traditional radio communication system, Artemis II will carry the Optical Communications System.
Using lasers, the device can transmit data hundreds of times faster than radio systems, even when transmitting millions of miles across the Solar System.
This could dramatically increase the amount that could be done on missions venturing deeper into space, such as to Mars.
20. They’re taking their gym equipment with them to the Moon
The lack of gravity means astronauts’ bodies don’t have to work as hard. From their first day in space, their muscles and bones will start to atrophy.
To keep themselves healthy, the crew will exercise for at least 30 minutes a day on an exercise ‘flywheel’.
Resembling a simplified rowing machine, the flywheel can give up to 180kg (400lbs) of resistance to keep their muscles working hard.
21. Radiation will be a big challenge for the crew
Earth’s magnetic field protects us from the worst of the Sun’s radiation, but Artemis II will travel beyond this shield.
The mission will carry several ‘organ on a chip’ devices, containing bone marrow-like cells grown from the astronaut’s own blood.
Once these are returned to Earth, medical teams will use the chips to measure how the crew’s cells reacted to their time in space to learn how to keep future astronauts healthy during longer trips.
22. Some very special soil will be flying
The previous Artemis I flight carried several tree seeds on board, which have since been planted and grown across the US.
Soil taken from around the roots of 10 of these trees will also be flying on board Artemis II, completing the cycle of flying to the Moon, being planted, growing and returning to space again.
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