The Artemis II mission has ended. Where does NASA go from here?

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/the-artemis-ii-mission-has-ended-where-does-nasa-go-from-here/

24 Comments

  1. Artemis III, IV, etc.

    Ultimately, the goal is to establish a permanent lunar presence and use it as a stepping stone to Mars. This is all possible if we only continue funding it.

  2. To the moon! Apparently. Should be aimed for next year but likely there’ll be delays.

  3. It is worth reading the article to understand the next steps and the challenges to get there. While “Artemis III and IV” is an accurate answer, it is worth unframing more of what that really means.

  4. WardenEdgewise on

    How close are those lunar landers to being finished? Anyone got an ETA on those?

  5. Malcolm_Morin on

    Artemis II is planned presumably for next year, as Artemis III (landing back on the moon and preparing for establishment of a permanent station/colony) is scheduled for 2028.

    Assuming there are no delays, that’s two years until we go back to the moon.

    But with everything going on right now, there’s a good chance we may have to wait longer.

    Hopefully not another 50 years.

  6. NASA has set up an extremely aggressive timeline, I really hope they can accomplish it. It’s been great to see people so excited about space again.

  7. TangerineBetter2818 on

    What a dumb fucking headline. Author should be ashamed of themselves and I refuse to give them the satisfaction and money of my viewing of the article. 

  8. DeconFrost24 on

    Build a kick ass LEM and land that bad boy! The begin preparation for a permanent lunar base.

  9. Genuine question, if they are planning a lunar base in the future what would be the purpose of it? Observation? And what would be the end goal? testing for habitable conditions to have more people out in space? I’m still a little kid inside of me optimistic for humanity to reach for the stars and to be a multi-planet species.

  10. Considering Trump wants to kill the space program and with its budget now being cut by almost $6 billion, NASA is struggling to cut programs in order to try to continue many projects including Artemis. With so much of the expertise and knowledge being DOGEed, it will be a struggle but I am hopeful we can get to Artemis IV. This administration has no interest in space if there is no way to immediately profit from it, unfortunately.

  11. Impressive-Hold7812 on

    Artemis III, brought to you by Nokia!

    I had noticed there was an initial hiccup between Integrity crew and US Navy personnel with SatComs for recovery.

    Hell, you could probably build the Heat Shield out of Nokias and skip that extra lift maneuver they had to do.

  12. I really recommend reading the article not only the headline, as these are real concerns. There are plenty of things that can change.

  13. With money diverted to bombs to kill and destroy, no need to seek knowledge, opportunity, unity and enlightenment.