On April 1st, NASA will launch ITS Artemis II mission to the moon. This will be the second Artemis mission since the Artemis I mission in November of 2022.

The goal of this mission is to prepare for future technology and other journeys to the moon, ultimately leading to landing on the surface with a full crew after 50 years.

During the mission, Artemis II will be in a 10-day orbit around the moon, while conducting research and collecting data, the crew will also be testing systems on their spacecraft.

These include the piloting system, manual and auto-pilot, navigation, and how functional their life support system will be while in deep space.

NASA is currently preparing for their Artemis III mission if Artemis II is successful. A launch is planned for sometime in mid 2027. This mission will focus on bringing humans back to the lunar surface.

WJPS teacher Mr. Johnson says, “I hope everything goes smoothly, and they’re able to have a successful launch without any issues.”

WJPS 12th grader Joseph Weir says, “If NASA is able to pull this off correctly, it’s definitely going to help with getting to other planets, like Mars.”