Four astronauts to take unprecedented path to moon. But why aren't they landing?

Photo: AFP / Mark Felix The spacecraft that could soon carry four people on a historic lunar mission, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule, is to take centre stage, making an hours-long journey from the agency's Vehicle Assembly Building to a launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The event on Saturday (local time), known as rollout, marked the first baby steps on what will be an unprecedented - and, for some, perhaps unexpected - path. The 10-day mission, called Artemis II, will lift off as soon as 6 February, taking NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch as well as the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen to the vicinity of the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The crew of four will travel beyond the far side of the moon, which could set a new record for the farthest distance humans have ever travelled from Earth, currently held by Apollo 13. It will also make history as the first trip beyond low-Earth orbit for a person of colour, a woman and a Canadian astronaut. But why won't Artemis II land on the lunar surface? "The short answer is because it doesn't have the capability. This is not a lunar lander," said Patty Casas Horn, deputy lead for Mission Analysis and Integrated Assessments at NASA. "Throughout the history of NASA, everything that we do is a bit risky, and so we want to make sure that that risk makes sense, and only accept the risk that we have to accept, within reason. "So we build out a capability, then we test it out, then we build out a capability, then we test it out. And we will get to landing on the moon, but Artemis II is really about the crew." Artemis I, the programme's 25-day, uncrewed debut mission, launched in November 2022 and orbited the moon. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP The upcoming flight is the first time that people will be on board the Artemis spacecraft: The Orion capsule will carry the astronauts around the moon, and the SLS rocket will launch Orion into Earth orbit before the crew continues deeper into space. "Now, with our four humans on board, we'll be testing out a lot of new capabilities that were not there for Artemis I," Horn said. "For example, we need to keep the vehicle thermally stable, because humans need to be comfortable. But when you add people to a spacecraft, you add a lot of moisture to the air, too. "They also need food. They need water. They need toilets. We ... also have some exercise devices on Orion this time that we're going to be testing." NASA's priorities for Artemis II are clear, Horn added. And there's plenty to do without touching the lunar surface. Crew safety and health come first, which includes getting the astronauts back home. Vehicle safety and health are secondary, and the mission objectives - such as testing navigation, propulsion and other onboard systems - come after that. Similarities to Apollo 8 Artemis II's mission profile draws some parallels to Apollo 8, which launched in 1968 and took humans to the vicinity of the moon for the first time. That mission, too, did not land on the lunar surface. It was, however, the first crewed launch of the Saturn V rocket and the first time astronauts were able to see and photograph the far side of the moon. Like Artemis II, Apollo 8 launched at a time when the programme's lunar lander - called the Apollo Lunar Module - was not ready for a crewed flight. As a result, NASA changed the mission profile from lunar lander training to translunar navigation training. (Lunar lander training ultimately happened during Apollo 9.) Photo: HO / NASA / AFP The Artemis programme's first planned lunar lander is called the Starship HLS, or Human Landing System, and is currently under development by SpaceX. During the Artemis III mission, which is scheduled to lift off by 2028, astronauts will launch aboard the Orion capsule using the Space Launch System rocket. Once in lunar orbit, Orion will dock with the Starships HLS and two astronauts will transfer to the lunar lander for their journey to the surface. Notably, there are questions about Starship's lunar lander development timeline, which has prompted NASA to consider contracting another company for the job. Horn acknowledged the similarities between Artemis II and Apollo 8 but also noted key differences. "Apollo 8 actually went into lunar orbit, did 10 revolutions and then came home," she said. "We are not actually going into lunar orbit - Artemis II is a 'free return', meaning that once we leave Earth's orbit, we're already on our way home. "We're just going to swing around the moon, and that's the beauty of it. Any number of things may go wrong, and that crew is still going to come back to Earth without having to do any other major burns," she added, referring to the firing of the spacecraft's engines. Photo: NASA Johnson There might be another parallel between the two missions, according to James W. Head, a professor of earth, environmental and planetary...

Four astronauts to take unprecedented path to moon. But why aren't they landing?

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