The Artemis 2 space mission, which will carry a crew of astronauts around the moon for the first time since 1972, is scheduled for November 2024, NASA said on Tuesday, AFP reported.

The calendar was made possible by the success of the Artemis 1 mission, which ended in December after just over 25 days in space.

The Orion spacecraft, unmanned during this first test flight, was powered by the new SLS rocket — the world’s most powerful — and successfully flew around the moon before returning to Earth.

A detailed analysis of the mission is still underway, NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Freeh said at a press conference. But initial results should allow the second Artemis mission to launch “in late November 2024,” he said. It’s more than a year and a half away.

This year, NASA will announce the lucky four who will make up the Artemis-2 crew. It is only known that there will be a Canadian among them. They will fly around the moon – without landing – in a ten-day mission.

Then Artemis 3 appears, which will deliver astronauts to the surface of the moon. That mission is officially slated for 2025, though the timeline couldn’t be more vague.

“We’ve always anticipated a period of about 12 months” between Artemis 2 and 3, Jim Free reiterated Tuesday. But he immediately emphasized that the third mission will depend on the completion of a number of critical elements that are currently being developed.

“We need a lander” and “we’re going to need spacesuits” to explore the lunar surface, Free said.

The Artemis program plans to send the first woman and the first black person to the moon, while the Apollo program sent 12 men, all white, to the moon.

In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and a goddess associated with the Moon.

NASA’s goal is to establish a permanent presence on the Moon by building a base on its surface and a space station in its orbit.

As they learn to live on the moon, astronauts and NASA will test all the technologies needed for an even more challenging journey: a crew that will go to Mars and return.

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