NASA has released a revised blueprint with 63 final objectives for sustained human presence and exploration throughout the solar system, as it plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2024
We need a road map with staying power, and through a collaborative process, we’ve identified a core set of defined objectives to achieve our exploration goals with our partners,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy
The blueprint covers four broad areas: science; transportation and habitation; lunar and Martian infrastructure; and operations
Under Artemis, NASA has set a vision to explore more of the Moon than ever before
With its Artemis I mission now on the launchpad, the agency plans to return humans to the Moon and establish a cadence of missions including at the lunar south polar region
These missions set up a long-term presence to inform future exploration of farther destinations, including Mars
“We’re helping to steward humanity’s global movement to deep space,” said Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
NASA plans to send the first humans back to orbit the Moon with Artemis II no earlier than 2024, and to the lunar surface no earlier than 2025 on the Artemis III mission