THE ARTEMIS PROGRAM

NASA’s Artemis program aims, from 2024, to begin building a sustainable base on the Moon. This will use a Lunar Gateway station in orbit, crewed landers, robot rovers and human habitats. Key components include the Artemis Base Camp, a long-term foothold for lunar exploration of the Moon’s south pole that will initially house four astronauts for a week. As infrastructure for power, waste disposal, communications, radiation shielding and landing pads are added, the base would help test human survival in the harsh environment, especially during the long and cold lunar nights, and develop technologies to mine and manufacture water, fuel and oxygen.

The base would have a terrain vehicle for astronauts to roam the surface, and later a ‘Moon hopper’ that could fly further away and act as a live-in habitat for up to 45 days. Developing the habitats, mining operations and hoppers are seen as essential to perfect the technologies needed for eventual crewed missions to Mars in the 2030s and 2040s.

“After 20 years of continuously living in low-Earth orbit, we’re now ready for the next great challenge of space exploration – the development of a sustained presence on and around the Moon,” says NASA administrator

Jim Bridenstine. “Artemis will… demonstrate key elements needed for the first human mission to Mars.”

Landing and return to Lunar Gateway tested Range of surface exploration expanded and extraction of resource materials Lunar terrain vehicle Lunar Gateway expanded with new modules Artemis Base Camp established with habitats, lunar terrain vehicle and support infrastructure Habitat module Expanded habitation capability added to Gateway to enable Mars mission simulation on the Moon Moon hopper Mars mission dress rehearsal with longer in-space and surface durations