{"id":95878,"date":"2026-04-01T11:29:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=95878"},"modified":"2026-04-01T11:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:06:20","slug":"artemis-ii-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/artemis-ii-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis II Mission: How Artemis II Mission Will Take Astronauts to the Moon and Back"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Artemis II Mission Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon, marking the first human mission to the Moon\u2019s vicinity since 1972.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The mission is a flyby and will not land on the Moon. A future mission, planned for 2028, aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>NASA\u2019s Plan for a Permanent Moon Base<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA has unveiled a long-term roadmap to establish a<\/span><b> permanent human presence <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on the Moon, aiming to support frequent and extended astronaut stays over the next decade. This marks a shift from short visits to sustained exploration.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The plan comes alongside preparations for the <\/span><b>Artemis II mission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which will send astronauts around the Moon and mark humanity\u2019s return to lunar space after more than 50 years.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike the Apollo missions (1969\u20131972), which focused on brief landings, the new objective is long-term habitation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Role of Artemis Missions<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Artemis programme is central to this effort. Artemis I (2022) tested an uncrewed mission around the Moon.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Artemis II will carry astronauts on a similar path, followed by another test mission and a planned human Moon landing in 2028.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA aims for regular lunar missions every six months, involving international partners and private companies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Travel Time: Fast vs Fuel-Efficient Routes<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Artemis II mission will reach the Moon\u2019s vicinity in <\/span><b>3\u20134 days<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, similar to the Apollo missions.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than 50 years ago, America&#8217;s Apollo missions made history when the first people set foot on the lunar surface.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In contrast, recent uncrewed missions like <\/span><b>Chandrayaan-3<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> took weeks or months, using slower but more fuel-efficient routes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Faster travel requires more powerful rockets. Artemis II uses NASA\u2019s <\/span><b>Space Launch System (SLS)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, currently its most powerful rocket, while Apollo missions used the <\/span><b>Saturn V<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the most powerful ever built.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft are relatively new and were first tested in the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, which lasted about 25 days.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Artemis II marks the first time these systems will carry astronauts on a lunar mission.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Artemis II Flight Path and Mission Significance<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-95907\" src=\"https:\/\/d35xcwcl37xo08.cloudfront.net\/current-affairs-wp-uploads\/2026\/04\/unnamed-4.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"298\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Artemis II mission will first orbit Earth twice before heading toward the Moon.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will circle the Moon and travel up to <\/span><b>6,500 km beyond its far side<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, marking the farthest distance humans have ever reached in space\u2014far beyond Apollo missions, which stayed about 110 km above the lunar surface.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This mission is a test flight to validate systems ahead of a planned Moon landing in 2028.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India\u2019s Rise in the New Lunar Race<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969, ISRO had not yet been established\u2014it was created just a month later.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, India has emerged as both a collaborator and competitor in the new era of lunar exploration, reflecting a shift from the earlier US\u2013USSR dominance to a multi-country space race involving China, Japan, and others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>India\u2019s Moon Mission Ambitions<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is planning a <\/span><b>human landing on the Moon by 2040<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while China is targeting 2030.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although Russia has been less active recently, multiple countries and European partners are expected to play significant collaborative roles in upcoming lunar missions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Strategic Alignment with NASA<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is a signatory to the <\/span><b>Artemis Accords<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, aligning it with NASA\u2019s framework for peaceful and sustainable space exploration.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This opens avenues for closer cooperation between ISRO and NASA in lunar and deep-space missions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strong partnership between ISRO and NASA is already visible in projects like the <\/span><b>NISAR Earth observation mission<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NASA\u2019s plans also involve private players, academia, and international partners, giving India opportunities to gain practical experience and technological exposure as it prepares for its own long-term lunar goals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b><strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/how-nasa-will-fly-astronauts-to-the-moon-and-back-for-artemis-ii-10612297\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-sci-tech\/nasa-moon-base-plan-artemis-ii-lunar-mission-10607597\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cd6wp6xenv0o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">BBC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artemis II Mission will send astronauts around the Moon after 50 years. Learn how Artemis II Mission works, its route, timeline, and future Moon plans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":95908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[4732,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-95878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-artemis-ii-mission","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95878"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95928,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95878\/revisions\/95928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}