NASA already has next Artemis flight in its sights following astronauts'
triumphant moon flyby
[April 13, 2026]
By MARCIA DUNN
HOUSTON (AP) — Never-before-glimpsed views of the moon’s far side.
Check. Total solar eclipse gracing the lunar scene. Check. New distance
record for humanity. Check.
With NASA’s lunar comeback a galactic-sized smash thanks to Artemis II,
the world is wondering: What’s next? And how do you top that?
“To people all around the world who look up and dream about what is
possible, the long wait is over,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said
as he introduced Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover,
Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen at Saturday’s jubilant
homecoming celebration.
Now that the first lunar travelers in more than a half-century are
safely back in Houston with their families, NASA has Artemis III in its
sights.
“The next mission’s right around the corner,” entry flight director Rick
Henfling observed following the crew’s Pacific splashdown on Friday.
In a mission recently added to the docket for next year, Artemis III’s
yet-to-be -named astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule
with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin are racing to have their company’s lander ready
first.
Musk’s Starship and Bezos’ Blue Moon are vying for the all-important
Artemis IV moon landing in 2028. Two astronauts will aim for the south
polar region, the preferred location for Isaacman’s envisioned $20
billion to $30 billion moon base. Vast amounts of ice are almost
certainly hidden in permanently shadowed craters there — ice that could
provide water and rocket fuel.
The docking mechanism for Artemis III’s close-to-home trial run is
already at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The latest model Starship is
close to launching on a test flight from South Texas, and a scaled-down
version of Blue Moon will attempt a lunar landing later this year.
NASA promises to announce the Artemis III crew “soon.” Like 1969’s
Apollo 9, Artemis III aims to reduce risk for the moon landings that
follow.
Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart loved flying the lunar module in
low-Earth orbit — “a test pilot’s dream.” But there’s no question, he
noted, that “the real astronauts” at least in the public’s mind were the
ones who walked on the moon.
Wiseman and his crew put their passion and feelings on full display as
they flew around the moon and back, choking up over lost loved ones as
well as those left behind on Earth.
[to top of second column]
|
In this image provided by NASA, The Artemis II crew captured this
view of an Earthset on Monday, April 6, 2026, as they flew around
the Moon. (NASA via AP)
During the their nearly 10-day journey, they tearfully requested
that a fresh, bright lunar crater be named after Wiseman’s late
wife, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020. They also openly shared
their love for one another and Planet Earth, an exquisite yet
delicate oasis in the black void that they said needs better care.
Artemis II included the first woman, the first person of color and
the first non-U.S. citizen to fly to the moon.
“Wonderful communicators, almost poets,” Isaacman said from the
recovery ship while awaiting their return.
Apollo’s manly, all-business moon crews of the 1960s and 1970s
certainly did not do group hugs.
For those old enough to remember Apollo, Artemis — Apollo’s twin
sister in Greek mythology — couldn’t come fast enough.
Author Andy Chaikin said he felt like Rip Van Winkle awakening from
a nearly 54-year nap. His 1994 biography “A Man on the Moon” led to
the HBO miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon.”
“It’s amazing how far we’ve come and how different this experience
is from back then,” Chaikin said from Johnson Space Center late last
week.
The hardest part, according to NASA Associate Administrator Amit
Kshatriya, is becoming so close to the crews and their families and
then blasting them to the moon. He anxiously monitored Friday’s
reentry alongside the astronauts’ spouses and children.
“You know what’s at stake,” Kshatriya confided afterward. “It’s
going to take risk to explore, but you have to make sure you find
the right line between being paralyzed by it and being able to
manage it.”
Calling it “mission complete” only after being reunited with his two
daughters, Wiseman issued a rallying cry to the rows of
blue-flight-suited astronauts at Saturday’s celebration.
“It is time to go and be ready,” he said, pointing at them, “because
it takes courage. It takes determination, and you all are freaking
going and we are going to be standing there supporting you every
single step of the way in every possible way possible.”
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
