After the successful Artemis 1 mission in December, NASA is preparing for another mission to the moon. The uncrewed tests of the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion capsule were a milestone for the space agency, and now NASA is moving ahead with plans to land humans on the moon. Here are the details…

NASA is gearing up for another Moon mission

According to an update on NASA’s website, the agency is still evaluating data from the SLS rocket for the Artemis 1 mission. Preliminary data shows that all systems are performing well and are ready for crewed flight. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center collected 4 terabytes of data and images and cameras on and around the rocket captured another 31 terabytes of imagery.

From the data analyzed so far, the SLS rocket appears to be working well. The core stage put the Orion capsule into orbit around Earth within acceptable parameters, with the thrust and mixing ratio of the RS-25 engines used on the space shuttle within 0.5% of predicted values value. The engine’s internal pressure and temperature were also within 2% of expected values.

The Artemis 2 flight, scheduled for May 2024, will carry four people on a mission around the moon. Data collected from the Artemis 1 mission will be critical to ensuring the success of the Artemis 2 mission. With the positive results of the Artemis 1 mission, it looks more and more likely Artemis 2 missions will become reality.