Four missions. Four fundamentally different orbital profiles. Explore the real physics of humanity's return to the Moon — from uncrewed test flight to the first lunar landing in over 50 years.
The first integrated test of the Space Launch System and Orion capsule. No crew. The mission validated every system that will carry humans — life support, heat shield, navigation, propulsion — from Earth to the Moon and back. Launched November 16, 2022 and returned December 11, 2022 after 25.5 days in space.
NRHO stands for Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit. Yes, someone got paid to name that. It works remarkably well.
The first crewed flight of Orion, launched April 1, 2026 — the first time humans have traveled beyond LEO since Apollo 17 in December 1972. This is a free-return trajectory: the spacecraft swings around the Moon using pure orbital mechanics, with no Lunar Orbit Insertion burn. If anything fails, physics brings the crew home automatically.
Originally planned as the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17, Artemis III was replanned as a LEO rendezvous and docking test. The reason: SpaceX's Human Landing System (HLS Starship) development fell significantly behind schedule, and its certification requirements meant a direct 2025–26 lunar landing was no longer achievable safely on the original timeline. Rather than delay the entire program, NASA restructured: Artemis III now validates Orion-to-HLS Starship docking procedures in low Earth orbit.
The first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 on December 11, 1972 — over 55 years between footsteps on the Moon. Artemis IV is the full mission: TLI to NRHO, transfer to HLS Starship, descent to the lunar south pole, surface EVAs, ascent, NRHO rendezvous, and trans-Earth injection. The target: the permanently shadowed craters near Shackleton Crater where water ice deposits have been confirmed by LCROSS and LRO data.