Artemis will make history by making sure a woman and a person of color are going to be walking on the moon. Working together NASA and SpaceX will complete the crew-carrying mission to touchdown on the Moon. This is the first lunar mission in the 21st century.
It’s been decades since the United States has had humans on the moon. Between 1969 and 1972 six crewed missions landed on the moon. In the Apollo missions, a total of 12 astronauts (all male and all white) performed moon landings.
Lunar Mission Contract between NASA and SpaceX
Four astronauts will be launched aboard the NASA Orion spacecraft. They will be heading for lunar orbit. Two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX HLS. The two will be dropped off for a Moon landing. After they complete their work on the moon they will return to the Orion. There they will sync up with their support crew and head home.
SpaceX has already gained the nod from NASA for its lander design. And now they will work to make sure all NASA’s performance requirements and human spaceflight standards are met. The NASA and SpaceX contract is valued at $2.89 billion to be paid per milestone.
