Artemis I — Return to the Moon
NASA's Artemis I mission sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back, marking the first step in returning humans to the lunar surface.
On November 16, 2022, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) — the most powerful rocket ever to fly — lifted off from Kennedy Space Center carrying the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a 25.5-day mission around the Moon and back. Artemis I traveled 1.4 million miles, passed within 80 miles of the lunar surface, and reached a maximum distance of 268,563 miles from Earth — farther than any spacecraft designed for humans had ever traveled. The successful mission validated the SLS rocket and Orion capsule and set the stage for Artemis II (a crewed lunar flyby) and Artemis III (the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972). The Artemis program aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, and to establish a sustained lunar presence as a stepping stone to Mars.
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