Explained: Why Artemis II will carry astronauts to the moon, but not land

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule, which could soon carry four astronauts on a historic lunar mission, is set to make an hours-long journey from the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building to a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday.

The event, known as a rollout, marks the beginning of an unprecedented mission that could set a new record for the farthest distance from Earth ever traveled by humans, currently held by Apollo 13.

The 10-day mission is expected to begin as soon as 6 February, taking NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch as well as the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen around the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The crew consisting of four members will travel beyond the far side of the moon. It will also make history for its diversity, making it the first trip beyond low-Earth orbit for a person of color, a woman, and a Canadian astronaut.

“The short answer is because it doesn’t have the capability. This is not a lunar lander,” Patty Casas Horn, deputy lead for Mission Analysis and Integrated Assessments at NASA told CNN.

The mission will be carried out by the Orion capsule, which will carry the astronauts around the moon, and then SLS rocket will launch Orion into Earth orbit before the crew continues deeper into space.

NASA’s priorities for Artemis II are clear, Horn said, adding that there is plenty to do without touching the lunar surface. She also outlined that crew's safety and health come first, which includes getting the astronauts back home. Vehicle safety and health are secondary, and the mission objectives, such as testing navigation, propulsion and other onboard systems come after that.

Artemis I, the program’s 25-day uncrewed test mission, was launched in November 2022 and successfully orbited the Moon. Hence, NASA believes that Artemis II could now beat Apollo 13’s record with humans on board, although the outcome is not guaranteed, according to Horn.

“It depends on when we fly. The trajectory is constantly changing because it is optimized for the best propulsion usage,” she told the news channel. NASA currently has a number of possible flight dates for Artemis II, starting 6 February and ending 30 April, 2026.

The mission will begin with two revolutions around Earth, before starting the translunar injection — the maneuver that will take the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and on toward the moon — about 26 hours into the flight, Horn noted.

By not entering the lunar orbit, the mission avoids any complexity. This process would allow the crew members to solely focus on other critical tasks as there is no need to pilot the spacecraft.