In case you are feeling the empty hole of moon missions, void since the return of the Artemis II astronauts from their trip around the lunar far side six months ago, NASA has you covered.
The agency'sSpace Launch System(SLS) rocketlaunched Artemis II on April 1, carrying a crew of four on the first mission aroundthe moonsince theApollo programended in 1972. SLS lifted off from Launch Complex-39B at NASA'sKennedy Space Center(KSC) in Florida, and, to the awe of hundreds of thousands, climbed a bright blue early evening sky on a trail of smoke left by the vehicle's solid rocket boosters up intospace.
More than300,000 people traveled to the Space Coastto watch the launch from dozens of locations around KSC and surrounding cities. But the best views wouldn't be seen until well after the rocket cleared the pad, whenNASAtechnicians recovered the slew of engineering footage captured by dozens of specialized cameras distributed everywhere from the base of the launch pad to drones positioned in the air to track every detail of the launch. Now, NASA has released that footage to the public.
The newly-released videos include a wide spectrum (literally) of views and angles that follow SLS from just before engine ignition through solid rocket booster separation as the rocket leaves Earth's atmosphere. NASA teams used scientifically calibrated in-flight imaging (SCIFLI) to compile footage ranging from the visible light spectrum, to short-wave infrared (SWIR), near-infrared (NIR), mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and infrared — to give you a few helpful acronyms for context as youpursue these videos on NASA's Artemis II album. These different wavelengths of light captured views imperceivable to the eye and typical camera sensors, and allowed NASA technicians to filter out things like the extreme brightness of the flames from the rocket’s engines.
Artemis II was the first crewed mission of NASA'sArtemis program, which aims to establish a permanent base on the surface of the moon in the 2030s. It was also the first flight of NASA'sOrion spacecraftwith astronauts aboard. Essentially a shakedown cruise for Orion's life support systems, the mission flew NASA astronautsReid Wiseman,Victor GloverandChristina Koch, as well as Canadian astronautJeremy Hansenon a 10-day flight around the moon and back toEarth.
The next mission in NASA's lunar line up, Artemis III, will last longer, but won't fly as far. Artemis III is scheduled to launch in mid-2027 with NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio and Andrew Douglas, as well asEuropean Space Agency(ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano of Italy. They will launch aboard Orion to Earth orbit, where their spacecraft will rendezvous with the two commercial lunar landers NASA has contracted for the Artemis program,SpaceX'sStarshipandBlue Origin's Blue Moon.
Artemis III is expected to last about two weeks as Orion will rendezvous and dock with each lander separately to test the spacecrafts' interoperability. That mission will serve as a precursor to the program's first actual lunar landing with astronauts on Artemis IV, which NASA is targeting to lift off in 2028.
Staff Writer, Spaceflight
Josh Dinner is Space.com's Spaceflight Staff Writer. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA's Artemis program and humanity's return to the moon, commercial spaceflight partnerships and crewed missions from the Space Coast, NASA science missions and more. He also enjoys building 1:144-scale model rockets and spacecraft. Find some of Josh's launch photography onInstagram, and follow himon X, where he mostly posts in haiku.
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