Wen be Nasa Moon mission launch and wetin Artemis go do?

Nasa dey aim for early April launch for di first crewed mission around di Moon for more dan 50 years.

Di Artemis II mission, wey go last about 10 days, go take di astronauts further for space dan anyone wey go dia bifor.

E dey aim to set di stage for di eventual human landing on top di lunar surface for di first time since di Apollo missions of di 1960s and 70s.

Wen dem go launch Artemis II?

Di next possible dates for Nasa be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 30 April 2026.

For December 2024, di space agency set deadline to launch Artemis II bifor di end of dat month.

Dem rule out di launch for February afta dem bin do wetin dem call pre‑flight test - wey be dress rehearsal - dem cut short wen hydrogen rocket fuel bin leak from one connection wey bin link di launch tower to di rocket.

Dem also rule out di launch for March afta dem find helium leakage.

Bifor dem fix di technical wahala, di mission planners also gatz to wait until di moon dey di right orbit, so dem go time di launch windows accordingly.

In practice, dis kain tin dey create patterns of roughly one week for di start of each month wen di rocket fit point for di right direction, followed by about three weeks wen dem no go get launch opportunities.

Wetin Artemis crew go do for di Moon mission?

Artemis II crew wey get four pipo be Nasa commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch. Dem get second mission specialist, Jeremy Hansen from di Canada Space Agency, wey go also dey on board.

Di mission dey involve di first crewed flight of Nasa gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and di Orion space capsule.

Once dem dey safe on top di orbit, di astronauts go test how di Orion handles dey work. Dis dey involve manually flying di capsule for di Earth orbit to dey practise how to steer and line up di spacecraft Moon landing for di future.

Dem now go comot to one place wey be thousands of kilometres beyond di Moon to check Orion life‑support, propulsion, power and navigation systems.

Di crew go also act as medical test subjects, dem go send di data and images back from deep inside space.

Dem go work inside small cabin wey no get plenty weight. Di Radiation level go also be higher dan wetin dey on top di ISS, wey dey for low-earth orbit, but wey still be safe.

Wen dem return to Earth, di astronauts go experience wetin be one bumpy return thru di atmosphere and splashdown off di west coast of di US, for di Pacific.

Artemis II go land on top di Moon?

No. Di mission na to lay di ground for di lunar landing by astronauts for di Artemis IV mission, wey dem plan for 2028.

Ahead of dat, Nasa dey plan anoda crewed test mission, Artemis III, for 2027, to rehearse di Orion rendezvous and docking wit one or more lunar landers - wey dem also go try out di new spacesuits if dem dey ready in time.

Nasa don pick two rival commercial landers for Artemis: SpaceX Starship and one craft wey Jeff Bezos im company Blue Origin don design.

Wen di Artemis IV finally fly, di astronauts go now enta di Moon south pole.

Afta dis, dem go aim to land again later for 2028 wit di Artemis V mission, to build up dia capability for sustained human presence on top di Moon.

Nasa don pause work for dia planned Gateway station for lunar orbit. Further Artemis missions go focus to build Moon base and fly crew regularly to di surface, and more landing, new surface module and robotic rovers go follow.

More kontris go join di effort, wit astronauts from many nations wey dey stay and work on top di Moon for long.

Wen be di last Moon mission?

Di last crewed Moon mission be di Apollo 17, wey bin land for December 1972 wey bin return to Earth later dat month.

Overall 24 astronauts don travel to di Moon wey 12 of dem bin waka on top di surface, all dat happun for di Apollo programme. Out of di 24 wey go di Moon, only five still dey alive.

America bin first go di Moon for di 1960s, to beat di Soviet Union to show dia geopolitical and technological dominance. Once dem achieve dat goal, public interest and political enthusiasm don rise, na so money for future Moonshots also bin shoot up.

Di Artemis programme grow out of one desire to return humans to di Moon, but dis time for long-term wey dem go build am around new technology and commercial partnerships.

Oda kontris dey plan to send astronauts to di Moon?

Several oda kontris get di dream to put dia pipo on di Moon for di 2030s.​

European astronauts dey set to join later Artemis missions wey Japan also don secure dia seats.

China also bin dey build dia own craft, wey dey target to land first near di Moon south pole by 2030.

Russia dey kontinu to tok about flying cosmonauts to di surface to build small base sometime between about 2030 and 2035. Sake of sanctions, funding pressure and technical wahala, dis timetable fit dey optimistic.

India also dey interested to see dia own astronauts waka on top di Moon one day.

Afta di success of Chandrayaan 3 wey land near di lunar south pole for August 2023, India space agency dey set dia goal to send astronauts to di Moon by about 2040. Dis go be part of di push to move dia human spaceflight programme beyond low Earth orbit.

Additional reporting by Kevin Church and Emily Selvadurai.