Published on May. 28, 2026, 8:16 PM
The Artemis missions are not just returning humanity to the Moon, they are also leading up to a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.
Riding on the wave of ‘Moon Joy’ sparked by Artemis 2’s amazing trip around the Moon and back, NASA has announced new details of their plan to establish a permanent human settlement at the lunar south pole.
For years, NASA has been planning to return humanity to the Moon, as part of their Artemis program.
The uncrewed Artemis 1 mission blasted off in November 2022, and was in space for nearly a month, travelling far out past the Moon and then circling back for a splashdown. This was all to test out the Orion spacecraft, to ensure it could safely carry astronauts on future missions.
On April 1, 2026, Artemis 2 launched with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. It was the first crewed mission to the Moon since December 1972, and it was an unparalleled success! However, it was simply a trip around the Moon, similar to the Apollo 8 flight back in 1968.
A camera on the solar panel of the Artemis 2 Orion spacecraft captured this photograph of the solar eclipse the astronauts experienced during their trip around the Moon, on April 6, 2026. (NASA)
DON’T MISS: Keep the Moon Joy alive with over 12,000 new photos from Artemis 2
Next year, NASA plans to launch Artemis 3 into low-Earth orbit, where the crew will perform tests of the Orion spacecraft and the lunar lander future missions will use to touch down on the Moon. The crew of this mission will be announced in the days ahead.
This will lead up to Artemis 4, which NASA hopes to launch in 2028, which is intended to deliver four astronauts to the Moon’s surface, who will likely land near the lunar south pole.