Artemis

Why is NASA going back to the Moon 50 years after Apollo mission?

While NASA’s ultimate goal is to put a man on Mars and lay the foundation to explore deep-space destinations, it also wants to beat the Chinese to the Moon, encourage private enterprise and inspire the next generation

To the Moon! Why NASA's Artemis mission is the dawn of a new space age

The Artemis programme’s aim is to establish a lasting human presence on the Moon with an orbiting space station known as Gateway and a base on the surface. Gateway would serve as a staging and refuelling station for a voyage to Mars that would take a minimum of several months

NASA's most powerful rocket yet shoots for the Moon, on its way to Mars

Fifty years after the last Apollo mission, the space program called Artemis is to get underway with the blast off of the uncrewed 322-foot (98-metre) Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at 8:33 am (1233 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Artemis 1: Maiden flight of spacecraft set to take humans back to the Moon – here’s what needs to go right

Project Artemis, the namesake of the sister of Apollo and daughter of Zeus in ancient Greek mythology, is designed to establish a long-term human presence on our nearest celestial neighbour, and to ultimately explore even further afield

Blue Origin sues NASA over decision to award Artemis moon lander contract to SpaceX

The bidders said that the evaluation process was unfair and that NASA should award more than one contract when SpaceX won the human landing system contract worth $2.9 billion.

Jeff Bezos offers NASA $2 billion discount to secure Artemis moon lander contract

The human landing system contract is worth $2.9 billion and Bezos said "this offer is not a deferral, but is an outright permanent waiver."

NASA's SLS moon rocket passes 'hot fire' engine test; test launch plans remain unclear

The SLS rocket will send an empty Orion capsule to the moon and back in a test flight later this year or in 2022.

Cygnus cargo ship named after 'Hidden Figure' Katherine Johnson arrives at space station

A key experiment shipped in the Cygnus cargo ship uses a light-activated protein to replace the function of damaged cells in the eye.

After first test was cut short, NASA considers firing up its moon rocket again

All four engines fired for barely a minute, rather than the intended eight minutes, on the test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

NASA gears up for final 'green test' of its SLS megarocket the Artemis moon missions

The upcoming Green Run hot fire test will be a key milestone event for NASA’s Artemis missions.