49 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
49 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Artemis program"
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chunk: 3/6
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source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program"
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category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
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date_saved: "2026-05-05T13:10:36.459834+00:00"
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instance: "kb-cron"
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---
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On March 26, 2019, Pence announced that NASA's Moon landing goal would be accelerated by four years with a planned landing in 2024. On May 16, 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that the new program would be named Artemis, after the goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology who is the twin sister of Apollo, after which NASA's 1960's moon landing program was named. Mars missions by the 2030s were still intended as of May 2019.
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In mid-2019, NASA requested US$1.6 billion in additional funding for Artemis for fiscal year 2020, while the Senate Appropriations Committee requested from NASA a five-year budget profile which is needed for evaluation and approval by Congress.
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In February 2020, the White House requested a funding increase of 12% to cover the Artemis program as part of its fiscal year 2021 budget. The total budget would have been US$25.2 billion per year with US$3.7 billion dedicated toward a Human Landing System. NASA chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said he thought the agency had "a very good shot" to get this budget through Congress despite Democratic concerns around the program. However, in July 2020, the House Appropriations Committee rejected the White House's requested funding increase. The bill proposed in the House dedicated only US$700 million toward the Human Landing System, 81% (US$3 billion) short of the requested amount.
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In April 2020, NASA awarded funding to Blue Origin, Dynetics, and SpaceX for 10-month-long preliminary design studies for the HLS.
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On February 4, 2021, the Biden administration endorsed the Artemis program. More specifically, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki expressed the Biden administration's "support [for] this effort and endeavor". However, throughout February 2021, Acting Administrator of NASA Steve Jurczyk reiterated those budget concerns when asked about the project's schedule, clarifying that "The 2024 lunar landing goal may no longer be a realistic target [...]".
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On April 16, 2021, NASA contracted SpaceX to develop, manufacture, and fly two lunar landing flights with the Starship HLS lunar lander. Blue Origin and Dynetics protested the award to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on April 26. After the GAO rejected the protests, Blue Origin sued NASA over the award, and NASA agreed to stop work on the contract until November 1 as the lawsuit proceeded. The judge dismissed the suit on November 4, and NASA resumed work with SpaceX.
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On November 15, 2021, an audit of NASA's Office of Inspector General estimated the true cost of the Artemis program at about $93 billion until 2025.
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In addition to the initial SpaceX contract, NASA awarded two rounds of separate contracts in May 2019 and September 2021, on aspects of the HLS to encourage alternative designs, separately from the initial HLS development effort. It announced in March 2022 that it was developing new sustainability rules and pursuing both a Starship HLS upgrade (an option under the initial SpaceX contract) and new competing alternative designs. These came after criticism from members of Congress over the lack of redundancy and competition, and led NASA to ask for additional support.
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== Missions ==
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=== Orion test flights ===
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The Pad Abort-1 test on May 6, 2010, demonstrated Orion's launch abort system, proving it could pull a crew module away from a rocket during a pad emergency. The Ascent Abort-2 test on July 2, 2019, proved that the system could pull a crew module away during launch at the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure (max q). For the second test, the boilerplate capsule launched on a custom Minotaur IV-derived rocket.
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In between, a prototype Orion crew module flew on Exploration Flight Test-1 on December 5, 2014 atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket. Its reaction control system and other components were tested during two medium Earth orbits, reaching an apogee of 5,800 km (3,600 mi) and crossing the Van Allen radiation belts before making a high-energy re-entry at 32,000 km/h (20,000 mph).
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=== Artemis I (2022) ===
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Artemis I was originally scheduled for late 2016, and as delays accrued, eventually for late 2021, but the launch date was then pushed back to August 29, 2022. Various delays related to final infrastructure repairs and weather pushed the launch date further out.
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In October 2022, NASA launch managers decided on a new launch date in November, which was again slightly delayed due to preparation and weather. On November 16 at 01:47:44 EST (06:47:44 UTC), Artemis I successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center.
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Artemis I was completed at 09:40 PST (17:40 UTC) on December 11, when the Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, west of Baja California, after a record-breaking mission, which saw Artemis travel more than 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) on a path around the Moon before returning safely to Earth. The splashdown occurred 50 years to the day since NASA's Apollo 17 Moon landing, the last human crewed mission to touch down on the lunar surface.
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=== Artemis II (2026) ===
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Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 11 at 00:07 UTC, concluding their nine-day trip around the Moon.
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=== Artemis III (2027) ===
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=== Artemis IV (early 2028) ===
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=== Artemis V (late 2028) ===
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== Supporting programs ==
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=== Commercial Lunar Payload Services ===
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=== Artemis Accords ===
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=== Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) === |