Next Phase of NASA's Artemis II Testing Set to Begin

NASA has announced the commencement of the next phase of testing for the Artemis II mission, which is part of the broader Artemis program. The Artemis program is the United States' initiative to return humans to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo missions, with the long-term goal of enabling human exploration of Mars. In April, NASA projected an image of the Artemis II Mission 'Patch' onto the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, symbolizing progress toward the mission. Artemis II is planned as a ten-day mission that will send a crew of four astronauts around the Moon. This mission will be the first crewed flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket. The Artemis II mission is a critical step in demonstrating the capabilities required for deep space exploration and will provide essential data and experience for subsequent missions, including those that aim to land astronauts on the lunar surface and eventually send humans to Mars.