The farthest-ever human spaceflight to date ended successfully as Artemis II’s Integrity module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on Friday.
Crew members didn’t land on the moon, but they circled the moon as part of a better than 250,000-mile journey to the moon and almost 700,000 miles in total as part of their 10-day mission. Much like the original moon missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Artemis II captivated a lot of people, including Emporia State Peterson Planetarium Director Mark Brown.
Brown says Artemis has redeveloped prestige in the American space program.
With a successful Artemis II now into the review phase after Artemis I had a successful uncrewed mission into space over three years ago, plans continue for Artemis III by summer next year. Artemis III will focus on in-space work with commercial lunar landers, as well as in-space systems, before Artemis IV — which is designed to put people back on the moon by early 2028. If successful, Artemis IV would put humans on the moon for the first time since 1972.
