Once again, NASA is going to the Moon with commercial and international partners to explore faster and explore more together with an aim that this work will bring new knowledge and opportunities and inspire the next generation. According to NASA, “we’re going back to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new a generation of explorers. As we build up a sustainable presence, we’re also building momentum toward those first human steps on the Red Planet.” In going to the Moon, NASA is laying the foundation that will eventually enable human exploration of Mars.

The Moon will provide a proving ground to test technologies and resources that will take humans to Mars and beyond, including building a sustainable, reusable architecture. NASA is working on the Artemis program which is a US government-funded human spaceflight program that has the goal of landing " the first woman and the next man" on the Moon, specifically at the lunar south pole region by 2024.NASA is seeking new partners to help the agency tell the story of human exploration at the Moon with the Artemis program in ways that engage, excite, and inspire a worldwide audience. The program is carried out predominantly by NASA, U.S. commercial spaceflight companies contracted by NASA, and international partners including the European Space Agency(ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA),Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Italian Space Agency(ASI)the Australian Space Agency(ASA), the UK Space Agency(UKSA), the United Arab Emirates Space Agency(UAESA)and the State Space Agency of Ukraine.

NASA is leading the program, but expects international partnerships to play a key role in advancing Artemis as the next step towards the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, laying the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually sending humans to Mars in the times to come. Landing on moon earlier has been accomplished bya number of astronauts of different countries with two US pilot-astronauts flying a Lunar Module on each of six NASA missions in 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11 and in 1972 with Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt on Apollo 17. As of March 2020, 65 womenhave flown in space, including cosmonauts, astronauts, payload specialists, and space station participants. The first woman in space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova who flew on Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963.In the 18 months since NASA accepted a bold challenge to accelerate its exploration plans by more than four years and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade, the agency has continued to gain momentum toward sending humans to the Moon again for the first time since the last Apollo lunar mission in 1972.

Artemis II, the first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System Orion, is targeted for launch in 2022. NASA will land astronauts on the Moonby 2024 on the Artemis IIImissionand about once a year thereafter.NASA Artemis Plan to Land First Woman, Next Man on Moon in 2024. In its formal plan, NASA captures Artemis progress to date, identifying the key science, technology and human missions, as well as the commercial and international partnerships that will ensure we continue to lead in exploration and achieve our ambitious goal to land astronauts on the Moon. The agency & rsquo;s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and the Orion spacecraft are closer than ever to their first integrated launch. The spacecraft is complete while the core stage and its attached four engines are undergoing a final series of tests that will culminate in a critical hot fire test this fall. Artemis Missions: Artemis - this time named aptly after the Greek goddess of the Moonis tentatively scheduled to be in three parts: an unmanned flight in end-2021, a crewed fly-by in 2023, and Artemis 3 getting boots on lunar ground in 2024.NASA is working toward launching Artemis I in 2021, an uncrewed flight to test the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft together. Following a successful hot fire test, the core stage will be shipped to the agency & rsquo;s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with the spacecraft.

NASA will launch an SLS and an Orion together on two flight tests around the Moonto check performance, life support, and communication capabilities. The first mission & ndash; known as Artemis I & ndash; is on track for 2021 without astronauts, and Artemis II will fly with crew in 2023.In the Phase 1 plan, NASA notes additional details about conducting a new test during the Artemis II mission – a proximity operations demonstration. Shortly after Orion separates from the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, astronauts will manually pilot Orion as they approach and back away from the stage. This demonstration will assess Orion’s handling qualities and related hardware and software to provide performance data and operational experience that cannot be readily gained on the ground in preparation for rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking, as well as undocking operations in lunar orbit beginning on Artemis III. During the programme, astronauts will collect samples and conduct a range of science experiments over the course.

As detailed in the agency & rsquo;s concept forsurface sustainabilit year lier this year, an incremental build-up of infrastructure on the surface will follow later this decade, allowing for longer surface expeditions with more crew. That concept calls for an Artemis Base Camp that would include new rovers, power systems, habitats, and more on the surface for long-term exploration of the Moon. Throughout the Artemis program, robots and humans will search for, and potentially extract, resources such as water that can be converted into other usable resources, including oxygen and fuel. By fine-tuning precision landing technologies as well as developing new mobility capabilities, astronauts will travel farther distances and explore new regions of the Moon.

Significance of Artemis symbol

ARTEMIS (Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun) represented by a portrait of the Greek Goddess Artemis is illustrated in the highlights and shadows of the crescent Moon topography. Her features are abstract enough that all women can see themselves in her. The tip of the A of Artemis points beyond the Moon and signifies that our efforts at the Moon are not the conclusion, but rather the preparation for all that lies beyond. The crescent shows missions from our audience’s perspective. From Earth we go. Back to Earth all that we learn and develop will return. This crescent also visualizes Artemis’ bow as the source from which all energy and effort is sent. The Moon is our next destination and a stepping stone for Mars. It is the focus of all Artemis efforts. The trajectory moves from left to right through the crossbar of the “A” opposite that of Apollo. Thus highlighting the distinct differences in our return to the moon. The trajectory is red to symbolize our path to Mars. The A symbolizes an arrowhead from Artemis’ quiver and represents launch. The overall shape is symbolic of an arrowhead. The silver  background is drawn from Greek mythology where Artemis’ bow and arrows are silver.

Artemis Team

Sending humans on a round-trip journey to the surface of another world is perhaps the ultimate achievement for a space program. But those trips are treacherous, and completing them safely takes years of training-which is why NASA’s astronauts are starting to prepare for a possible lunar assignment. The first set of probables for Artemis comprise 18 astronauts are nine men and nine women have been selected to begin training for upcoming Artemis missionsto the moon.The astronauts on the Artemis Team come from a diverse range of backgrounds, expertise and experience. Most of the astronauts in the group are in their 30s or 40s. The oldest is 55, the youngest 32.The list includes the as-yet-unnamed next man and first woman who will set foot on the lunar surface later this decade. It is a good news that Indian-American Astronaut Raja Jon Vurputoor Chari, US Air Force colonel has been picked by NASA as one of the eighteen astronauts for training for Moon mission who will form the Artemis Team and help pave the way for the next lunar missions, including sending the first woman and next man to walk on the lunar surface in 2024.