With Artemis, NASA envisions a multiplanetary future for humanity

NASA’s quest to return humans to the moon has finally gotten off the ground. After being stymied by repairs and hurricanes, the Artemis 1 mission launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral early Wednesday morning. 

This first mission is an uncrewed test of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft – shooting all the way to the moon and back – so that everything goes smoothly when humans do climb aboard for a trip to Earth’s companion.

But Artemis 1 is more than just a technological test. Success would signal momentum toward a broader vision for a multiplanetary future for humanity. Complete with construction of a permanent lunar outpost, the Artemis program is designed to establish a way station for travel to Mars – and beyond. Behind the audacity of that goal, shared by NASA and numerous private space companies, is a faith in the potential of human ingenuity.

“The capabilities that we will develop for the Moon to Mars Program can and will enable a multiplanet species,”