SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Following a successful splashdown off the coast of San Diego on Friday, all four astronauts who were a part of the Artemis II mission are now back home.
With the crew's return, NASA is now shifting its focus to the upcoming Artemis missions. The space agency's goal is to land astronauts on the moon as early as 2028, establish a permanent lunar base, and eventually send humans to Mars.
The next step in that journey is Artemis III, scheduled for next year. The mission will remain in Earth orbit to test new lunar landers developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
Jim Kidrick, president of the San Diego Air and Space Museum, explained the importance of these upcoming tests.
"We've got to make sure the lander works. We've got to make sure that the separation of the lander and the rendezvous of the lander, the hookups, that all of that once again, is perfect," Kidrick said.
The Artemis III mission profile closely mirrors Apollo 9, which was instrumental in reaching the moon in the late 1960s and paved the way for the Apollo 11 moon landing. The Apollo 9 capsule is housed at the Air and Space Museum.
Once the Earth-orbit tests are complete, NASA plans to execute a lunar landing during the Artemis IV mission in 2028.
"If we really, really want to go to Mars, we've got to do it, and the moon is our test bed. Because it only takes us three to four days to get there," Kidrick said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
