For over 22 years, humans have maintained a continuous presence in space, on board the International Space Station (ISS). It has now become almost routine, as astronauts and cosmonauts regularly blast off for stays in low-Earth orbit (LEO), with relatively little fanfare.
But all of this is about to change. Nasa currently expects the ISS to retire from active service in 2030, because a hot, new destination in the sky is about to re-open its doors: the Moon.
The successful launch of Artemis 1 in November 2022 was the first step on the journey, testing the rocket that will take four crew members, including the first woman, back to our natural satellite.
The plan now is to launch Artemis 2 in 2024, which will take four astronauts out of Earth’s orbit for the first time since Apollo and take them around the Moon. This will be followed by the Artemis 3 mission, currently scheduled for 2025 on the space agency’s wildly optimistic timeline, during which humans...