NASA's Apollo moonshots are a tough act to follow, even after all this time. As four astronauts get set to blast off on humanity's first trip to the moon in more than half a century, comparisons between Apollo and NASA's new Artemis program are inevitable.
North Korea conducts engine test for missile capable of targeting US mainlandBills to pay FAA and TSA workers during shutdowns get introduced but keep stalling in CongressTrump's conflicting messages sow confusion over the Iran warIlia Malinin bounces back from Olympic nightmare with 3rd straight world figure skating titleMeet the Artemis crew in NASA's first astronaut mission to the moon in more than a half-centuryPeople 'bathe' in nature to get respite from chaotic news cycleOtters enjoy a snow day in Maryland during winter stormA Medicaid 'spend down' may get an older person long-term care coverage but isn't a DIY strategyInspired by Picasso, an AP photographer visualizes a blind person ‘seeing’ artJudge won't block meeting that could exempt Gulf drilling from Endangered Species ActOnce a luxury for moms, doula care is going mainstreamDietary supplement makers push the FDA to allow peptides and other new ingredients'Worst in Show' CES products include AI refrigerators, AI companions and AI doorbellsAt Pentagon Christian service, Hegseth prays for violence 'against those who deserve no mercy'Tras un mes de guerra con Irán, Trump no cumple algunos de sus objetivos y busca ponerle finNestlé says 413,793 KitKat candy bars stolen en route from Italy to PolandBills to pay FAA and TSA workers during shutdowns get introduced but keep stalling in CongressTrump's conflicting messages sow confusion over the Iran warIlia Malinin bounces back from Olympic nightmare with 3rd straight world figure skating titleMeet the Artemis crew in NASA's first astronaut mission to the moon in more than a half-centuryPeople 'bathe' in nature to get respite from chaotic news cycleOtters enjoy a snow day in Maryland during winter stormA Medicaid 'spend down' may get an older person long-term care coverage but isn't a DIY strategyInspired by Picasso, an AP photographer visualizes a blind person ‘seeing’ artJudge won't block meeting that could exempt Gulf drilling from Endangered Species ActOnce a luxury for moms, doula care is going mainstreamDietary supplement makers push the FDA to allow peptides and other new ingredients'Worst in Show' CES products include AI refrigerators, AI companions and AI doorbellsAt Pentagon Christian service, Hegseth prays for violence 'against those who deserve no mercy'Tras un mes de guerra con Irán, Trump no cumple algunos de sus objetivos y busca ponerle fin Science NASA is getting ready to send astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon.
The spacesuits they’ll wear are designed for the Orion capsule and future missions to Mars.NASA astronauts are gearing up to fly around the moon for the first time in more than a half-century. The 10-day Artemis mission aboard the Orion spacecraft won’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it’s the first step for future moon landings. NASA’s Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft set for the Artemis 2 mission is seen on Launch Complex 39B at sunrise at the Kennedy Space Center, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. This Dec. 29, 1968, photo made available by NASA shows the large moon crater Goclenius, foreground, approximately 40 statute miles in diameter, and three clustered craters, Magelhaens, Magelhaens A and Colombo A, during the Apollo 8 mission. In this April 10, 1970, photo made available by NASA, Apollo 13 astronauts, from left, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell, gather for a photo on the day before launch. In this April 11, 1970, photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the crew of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In this Dec. 21, 1968, photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 8 crew launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA is getting ready to send astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon. The spacesuits they’ll wear are designed for the Orion capsule and future missions to Mars.NASA astronauts are gearing up to fly around the moon for the first time in more than a half-century. The 10-day Artemis mission aboard the Orion spacecraft won’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it’s the first step for future moon landings. NASA’s Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft set for the Artemis 2 mission is seen on Launch Complex 39B at sunrise at the Kennedy Space Center, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft set for the Artemis 2 mission is seen on Launch Complex 39B at sunrise at the Kennedy Space Center, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. This Dec. 29, 1968, photo made available by NASA shows the large moon crater Goclenius, foreground, approximately 40 statute miles in diameter, and three clustered craters, Magelhaens, Magelhaens A and Colombo A, during the Apollo 8 mission. This Dec. 29, 1968, photo made available by NASA shows the large moon crater Goclenius, foreground, approximately 40 statute miles in diameter, and three clustered craters, Magelhaens, Magelhaens A and Colombo A, during the Apollo 8 mission. In this April 10, 1970, photo made available by NASA, Apollo 13 astronauts, from left, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell, gather for a photo on the day before launch. In this April 10, 1970, photo made available by NASA, Apollo 13 astronauts, from left, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert and Jim Lovell, gather for a photo on the day before launch. In this April 11, 1970, photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the crew of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In this April 11, 1970, photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the crew of the Apollo 13 mission to the moon launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In this Dec. 21, 1968, photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 8 crew launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In this Dec. 21, 1968, photo made available by NASA, the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 8 crew launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. get set to blast off on humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than half a century, comparisons between Apollo andAnother key difference: Artemis reflects more of society, with a woman, person of color and Canadian rocketing away. While Artemis builds on Apollo and pays homage to it, “there is no way we could be that same mission or ever hope to even be,” said NASA astronaut Christina Koch, part of the Artemis II crew.It took NASA just eight years to go from putting its first astronaut in space to putting Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969, beating President John Kennedy’s end-of-decade deadline. “The Apollo program still just absolutely blows me away,” said Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency, Artemis has progressed much more slowly, after decades of indecision and flip-flopping between the moon and Mars as the next grand destination. NASA’s new moon rocket, the Space Launch System, or SLS, has soared only once in a test flight without anyone on board more than three years ago.This plodding approach is why NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman overhauled the Artemis program in February. Keen to emulate Apollo, he added a mission between the upcoming Artemis II mission and the moon landing that’s now shifted to Artemis IV in 2028. During next year’s revamped Artemis III, astronauts will stick closer to home the same way Apollo 9 did in 1969. Instead of attempting a moon landing as originally envisioned, they will practice docking their Orion capsule in orbit around Earth with one or both lunar landers under development by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The rival companies are accelerating work on their landers in a bid to be first.The Soviets were America’s fierce rivals during Apollo, but their moon rockets kept exploding at liftoff and they eventually gave up. Now the Chinese are the competition. China already has landed robotic spacecraft on the moon’s far side — the only nation to achieve that — and is scrambling to land astronauts near the lunar south pole by 2030. NASA is aiming for the same polar region, where shadowed craters are thought to hold vast amounts of ice that could provide drinking water and rocket fuel. Like his predecessor Bill Nelson, Isaacman is determined to beat China to the finish line and win this second space race.Apollo’s Saturn V rockets stood 363 feet , with five first-stage engines. The Artemis SLS rocket comes in at 322 feet but packs more liftoff thrust with its four main engines and two strap-on boosters. All but one Saturn V rocket soared from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A, now leased by SpaceX. NASA will use neighboring pad 39-B for all SLS flights. While the Saturn V launched twice before carrying astronauts, the SLS has flown only once. Hydrogen fuel leaks delayed the SLS debut in 2022 and struck again during a countdown test in February, stalling Artemis II. Then helium trouble reappeared, causing further delay. NASA is now targeting an April liftoff. Launch Control remains at the same place. There was one woman in the packed firing room for the liftoff of Apollo 11. Now a woman leads it: Artemis launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.Apollo 8 still ranks as the gutsiest space mission of all time. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders became the first humans to launch to the moon in 1968. Borman, the commander, insisted on as few lunar orbits as possible given the risks. He and his bosses settled on 10 orbits as a warmup for 1969’s moonwalk by Armstrong and Aldrin. NASA decided long ago against orbiting the moon on Artemis’ crew debut, judging it too dangerous. The main goal is to test the Orion capsule’s life-support equipment, flying for the first time. One big similarity between Apollo 8 and Artemis II is the troubled times surrounding them. “If we can contribute a little bit to hope for humanity,” said Artemis II pilot Victor Glover of NASA, “that is a huge thing.”The Artemis astronauts will orbit Earth for a day to make certain everything is working properly before igniting the main engine and heading for the moon. It will take three to four days for the capsule to reach the moon and continue some 5,000 miles beyond, exceeding the distance record set by 1970’s ill-fated Apollo 13. Like Apollo 13, Artemis II will take advantage of the moon and Earth’s gravity, making a figure eight after whipping around the moon to head home in what’s known as a free-return trajectory requiring little if any fuel. It got Apollo 13’s three astronauts safely back although they had to abandon their moon landing.For Apollo, the white, bulky spacesuits did double duty. What the astronauts wore for launch and return was the same for moonwalks since there wasn’t enough storage space for different outfits. The Orion capsules for Artemis are bigger, designed to hold four astronauts instead of three plus two sets of spacesuits. NASA created brand new spacesuits for use inside the capsule, while turning to private companies for the moonwalking attire. Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew will wear the orange custom-fitted suits for launch and reentry. They’ll also use them in case of a depressurization or some other emergency. They can survive up to six days in the suits, inserting a straw into the helmet to sip water or protein shakes and relying on undergarment bags and bladders as a built-in toilet.Apollo was all about beating the Russians to the moon and planting the U.S. flag. Astronauts landed six times from 1969 through 1972, with the longest surface stay lasting 75 hours. Five of the 24 Apollo astronauts who flew to the moon are still alive. For the first Artemis moon landing, a pair of astronauts could spend nearly a week there. It’s a complicated plan compared with Apollo. Artemis moonwalkers will launch to the moon aboard Orion and, once in lunar orbit, transfer to SpaceX’s Starship or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon, whichever is ready first. They’ll descend to the surface, and, after a few days, blast back into orbit to rendezvous with their Orion capsule. Orion will be the astronauts’ ride home. NASA is striving for sustained lunar living, with Mars to follow, although “day one of the moon base is not going to look like this glass-enclosed, domed city,” Isaacman said. Last week, he unveiled a blueprint for the moon base showing habitats, rovers, drones, power stations and more. NASA plans to invest $20 billion over the next seven years.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Yemen’s Houthis claim responsibility for missile attacks on Israel as war in Middle East intensifies
National Aeronautics And Space Administration Frank Borman Buzz Aldrin Aerospace And Defense Industry Space Launches Spacecraft General News Florida FL State Wire Jared Isaacman Jeremy Hansen Technology Elon Musk Christina Koch John F. Kennedy U.S. News Charlie Blackwell-Thompson Science Bill Anders James Lovell China Planets Bill Nelson Victor Glover Neil Armstrong Jeff Bezos Reid Wiseman U.S. News
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NASA Faces Budget Constraints, May Scale Back Venus Mission to Expedite ArtemisNASA is facing budget challenges that may force it to make difficult decisions about its mission portfolio, potentially impacting its involvement in a planned European mission to Venus while prioritizing the Artemis program for lunar exploration.
Read more »
What time is NASA's Artemis 2 moon launch on April 1?Samantha Mathewson joined Space.com as an intern in the summer of 2016. She received a B.A. in Journalism and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut. Previously, her work has been published in Nature World News.
Read more »
NASA Selects Intuitive Machines to Deliver Artemis Science, Tech to MoonNASA has awarded Intuitive Machines of Houston, $180.4 million to deliver NASA-funded science and technology to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s CLPS
Read more »
NASA’s Artemis II astronauts arrive in Florida ahead of moon launchDuring their 10-day mission, this four-person crew will swing around the far side of the moon—and potentially travel farther from Earth than anyone in history
Read more »
Artemis 2 moon mission latest news: NASA days away from Artemis 2 astronaut launch to moonTariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.
Read more »
Meet the first Artemis crew flying to the moon since the Apollo eraThe four astronauts making NASA's next lunar leap bear little resemblance to the Apollo era. The Americans who blazed the trail to the moon more than half a century ago were white men chosen for their military test pilot experience. The Artemis crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian.
Read more »