What is NASA's Artemis program?

NASA's ambitious Artemis program will eventually create a base on the moon — and lay the foundations for manned missions to Mars

Space.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images)

Artemis I, which was set to launch Monday morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before the flight was scrapped, is "the first in a series of increasingly complex missions" that will test the new Space Launch System (SLS) — the most powerful rocket ever built — and Orion spacecraft's ability to orbit the moon and return to Earth. The ultimate goal of the program is to get astronauts back to the moon and then on to Mars. Here's everything you need to know:

What is the Artemis program?

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.