First crewed Moon mission in 50 years

NASA’s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the Moon, paving the way for a future landing and the eventual establishment of a long-term presence on the lunar surface

SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM (SLS)
NASA’s most powerful rocket, generates 39.1 Meganewtons of thrust – 15% more than Apollo-era Moon rocket Saturn V

Two solid rocket boosters

Upper stage

Core stage
Liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen

Four RS-25 engines:
Upgraded from Space Shuttle programme

98.2m

Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System (ICPS): Single RL10C‑2 engine

Orion Service Module: Built by European Space Agency (ESA)

Launch Abort System: Propels Orion capsule to safety in event of emergency

ORION SPACE CAPSULE
Diameter: 5m
Height: 3.3m
Mass: 8.5 tonnes

Heat shield: Largest of its kind ever built

Crew: Four astronauts inside nine cubic metres of space

FLIGHT PATH

Outbound
Inbound

1
Lift-off from Cape Canaveral

2
Two minutes after launch, boosters separate

3
Eight minutes after launch, ICPS and Orion separate from Core stage. Orion’s solar arrays unfurl

4
After 90-minute orbit, ICPS fires engines to raise Orion to higher Earth orbit. Systems check undertaken for next 24 hours

5
If everything is in order, Orion separates from ICPS. Then, astronauts manually fly Orion toward and away from ICPS, practising proximity operations for future missions

6
Around 23 hours later, Orion Service Module carries out Translunar Injection (TLI) burn – pushing Orion out of Earth’s orbit and on four-day trip to the Moon

7
After lunar flyby, Orion begins four-day journey home, drawn back with help of Earth’s gravity

8
Just before re-entry, Orion’s crew module separates from service module

9
Capsule re-enters atmosphere at speed of 32,187km/h and temperatures of up to 2,200°C

10
Series of parachutes slow craft before splashdown in Pacific Ocean

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Moon

Artist illustration of Orion entering atmosphere

Orion will travel around 400,000km from Earth – furthest humans have ever gone into space

Sources: NASA, ESA, Lockheed Martin
Pictures: NASA
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