Barring one early problem with the space toilet, the recently concluded Artemis mission was an unqualified success. We sent three Americans and one Canadian into space, to boldly go where no man had gone before, and they did it, in American style: Father, faster, better.
They brought back some images of parts of the Moon no humans had ever seen before, and doubtless a ton of data that NASA scientists will be poring over for years. But all this brings up one question:
OK, what's next? Well, NASA has some answers.
Now that the first lunar travelers in more than a half-century are safely back in Houston with their families, NASA has Artemis III in its sights.
“The next mission’s right around the corner,” entry flight director Rick Henfling observed following the crew’s Pacific splashdown on Friday.
In a mission recently added to the docket for next year, Artemis III’s yet-to-be -named astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are racing to have their company’s lander ready first.
That's the logical next step, and the logical location to do it. While the first manned Artemis mission was exciting, that long looping shot around the Moon, the next step has to be making sure that the docking with any landing module can be done safely, reliably, securely, every time. And two familiar names are vying to be the ones who build that landing module.
Musk’s Starship and Bezos’ Blue Moon are vying for the all-important Artemis IV moon landing in 2028. Two astronauts will aim for the south polar region, the preferred location for Isaacman’s envisioned $20 billion to $30 billion moon base. Vast amounts of ice are almost certainly hidden in permanently shadowed craters there — ice that could provide water and rocket fuel.
The docking mechanism for Artemis III’s close-to-home trial run is already at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The latest model Starship is close to launching on a test flight from South Texas, and a scaled-down version of Blue Moon will attempt a lunar landing later this year.
This looks like a pretty ambitious timeline. In fact, it's looking a lot like even an old coot like me (64) may yet live to see the second generation of American moon landings.
Read More: Yes! The Artemis II Splashdown Has Happened (Updated)
'Joy Train': Artemis Crew Gives First Remarks on Earth After Successful Splashdown
It's a great time to be an American space geek.
The stated goal here is to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon. People won't be able to colonize the Moon; there are just too many issues, mostly involving the low gravity, for people to live there permanently. But people can be shuttled through, serving for a few months, then returning home before the low lunar gravity can cause any serious damage. But the value of the base as a springboard, well, that's inestimable. This lunar base could serve as a basis from which to go to Mars, or even further; between Mars and Jupiter are millions of asteroids with incalculable mineral riches. Everything can be leveraged to move further; the materials on the Moon can be used to launch for Mars, and materials in Mars may be useful to build an orbiting space station with a spinning ring to simulate gravity. That station could even expand outward for the asteroids, and at that time, you would have your permanent space colonies, built by the materials in the asteroid belt. They would probably not be completely independent, but they'd be there.
It's heady stuff to consider. Artemis II has already given us a major step in that direction. Now, we continue to look ahead.
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