Astronauts are about to go back to the moon - here's what you need to know

NASA is poised to nonstop astronauts astir the satellite and backmost for the archetypal clip successful much than 50 years.

The abstraction agency's Artemis II ngo volition instrumentality the unit further than humans ‍have ever ventured successful abstraction before.

The ngo is planned for arsenic soon arsenic 6 February, but take-off depends connected immoderate beauteous important factors.

Here is everything you request to know.

What is the Artemis programme?

Artemis is NASA's lunar exploration programme.

It aims to instrumentality humans to the satellite for the archetypal clip since the past lunar landing successful December 1972, which was the past ngo of the Apollo programme.

The Artemis missions are portion of NASA's semipermanent plans to physique a abstraction presumption - called Lunar Gateway - wherever astronauts volition beryllium capable to unrecorded and work and hole for missions to Mars.

Artemis I launched successful November 2022. It progressive sending an bare Orion unit capsule to ellipse the satellite to yet trial NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The programme is the pinnacle of renewed involvement successful the satellite (after backing waned successful the 1970s).

It is besides America’s champion effort to bushed the likes of China successful the abstraction contention to instrumentality to the moon.

The rocket and spacecraft

The SLS that volition instrumentality the unit astir the satellite was unveiled by NASA connected 17 January.

The tremendous rocket took a painstaking 11.5 hours to question 4 miles from the hangar to the motorboat pad astatine the Kennedy Space Centre successful Florida.

The rocket is taller than Big Ben - lasting astatine 98m - and is successful 2 main sections.

The halfway stage, which includes the substance tanks, contains 2 cardinal litres of hydrogen and 750 cardinal litres of oxygen, frozen truthful that the gases go liquid.

When mixed and ignited, the chemic absorption produces immense amounts of steam that is forced retired of the motor nozzles astatine 10,000mph.

Clamped to the halfway signifier are 2 boosters. Just 1 of these produces the aforesaid thrust arsenic 14 jumbo jets and unneurotic they nutrient 75% of the powerfulness successful the archetypal 2 minutes of flight.

Once the rocket reaches orbit, the boosters volition autumn away, leaving the precocious signifier containing the Orion unit capsule - which has everything the unit request to eat, slumber and workout - to continue.

NASA says the SLS is the lone rocket susceptible of sending astronauts, cargo and the Orion capsule straight to the satellite successful a azygous flight, but a ngo similar that doesn't travel cheap.

The SLS rocket programme has outgo $23.8bn since its inception successful 2011, according to information from the Planetary Society. The Orion abstraction capsule has outgo $20.4bn implicit 10 years since the programme started.

Coupled with the outgo of crushed infrastructure, NASA has spent a full of $49.9bn connected the programme betwixt 2006 and their archetypal trial motorboat successful 2022.

The terms tag per-launch is astir $4bn, according to Space.com.

What volition hap during the mission?

During the 10-day mission, the unit connected Artemis II volition trial beingness support, navigation and connection systems to corroborate everything operates arsenic it should successful heavy space.

Many of these tests volition beryllium completed portion the capsule is inactive successful the Earth’s orbit, truthful that the astronauts are person to location successful the lawsuit of thing going wrong.

The capsule volition past participate Earth’s precocious orbit wherever the unit volition manually aviator Orion earlier power is handed backmost to controllers astatine NASA's Johnson Space Center successful Houston, Texas.

The astronauts volition past walk 4 days circling the moon, travelling astir 4,600 miles beyond its acold broadside earlier returning to Earth and splashing down successful the Pacific Ocean.

How palmy the ngo is volition beryllium captious successful bringing NASA 1 measurement person to landing astronauts connected the moon, the extremity of Artemis III.

This 3rd signifier is presently aimed to motorboat successful mid-2027.

Who volition beryllium connected board?

Artemis II's unit consists of 3 American astronauts and a Canadian.

Scroll crossed and click connected the squares to find retired much astir each astronaut.

On 23 January the unit entered quarantine - besides known arsenic the wellness stabilisation programme - which ensures they bash not prime up immoderate unwellness earlier take-off.

The astronauts typically commencement quarantine 14 days earlier a scheduled launch, but are capable to travel retired again if it is cancelled - which could inactive hap successful this case.

What could hold the launch?

Weighing connected the 6 February motorboat day is the result of a cardinal bedewed formal rehearsal, which happens 4 days anterior and simulates the motorboat countdown to drawback immoderate snags oregon issues earlier flight.

Artemis motorboat manager Charlie Blackwell-Thompson told reporters successful January that the bedewed formal is the "driver" of the motorboat schedule, adding: "You're going to request a small spot of clip to look astatine the data."

Crucial flaws during a trial formation 3 years agone person already enactment Artemis II down schedule.

The trial formation successful 2022, without humans connected board, identified important problems with the Orion unit capsule's beingness enactment strategy and vigor shield, which required plan modifications to fix.

The upwind could besides beryllium the captious origin betwixt a motorboat oregon a delay.

NASA has a elaborate upwind criterion to see factors including the temperature, wind, precipitation, lightning, clouds and star activity, to cheque whether a motorboat is harmless oregon not.

If determination is immoderate rain, the motorboat volition apt not spell ahead.

When other could it launch?

Artemis II has 3 motorboat windows done to April, timed cautiously with orbital mechanics to let for a analyzable way astir the satellite and back.