Humans are about to return to the Moon for the first time in half a century. What is the latest situation? Which publicly listed companies are involved?

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Source: 财联社

Caixin Leads (Cailian Press) March 31 report (Editor: Shi Zhengcheng) After two rounds of “air leak” repairs, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is making final preparations for the Artemis 2 mission, which will send astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.

According to NASA’s latest situation update, the target departure time for the astronauts remains 6:24 p.m. Eastern Time on April 1 (6:24 a.m. Beijing Time on April 2), with a launch window of two hours. Similar launch windows will continue through April 6; if the astronauts have not departed by then, the next launch window will at least have to wait until April 30.

The four-person crew for this mission consists of three veteran NASA astronauts—Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch—and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

(From left to right: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen)

Return to the Moon

Although the Artemis 2 crew will not land on the Moon, they will become the first people from Earth to travel to the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

As a key validation step for a crewed lunar landing mission, Artemis 2 will, over roughly 10 days of flight, verify whether the equipment needed for trips to and from the Moon is reliable. This will also be the first crewed flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion deep-space crew capsule.

Therefore, after launch, the astronauts will first test the Orion capsule’s performance in Earth orbit, confirm that communications, navigation, propulsion, and life-support systems are operating normally, and then manually pilot the spacecraft to approach the SLS upper-stage rocket as its fuel is nearly exhausted—simulating the operations required for the future crew to dock with a space station or a lunar lander.

(Source: NASA)

If all goes smoothly, the crew will have a short nap for a few hours, then start the spacecraft’s main engines, while flight control experts on the ground will assess the spacecraft’s status and ultimately decide whether to allow the crew to travel to the Moon.

After that, the journey to the Moon will last 4 days. In addition to getting to see parts of the Moon’s far side that have never been observed by humans up close, Artemis 2 will also set a new record for the farthest distance ever reached by humans from Earth.

Based on an on-time launch, Artemis 2 will surpass the 248,655-mile farthest-distance record set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970, and is expected to reach 252,000 miles.

Meanwhile, because the lunar transfer injection ignition has been precisely matched to the return trajectory, the “way home” will almost follow a gravity-only trajectory. In other words, even if there is a major problem with the spacecraft’s navigation or propulsion systems after heading to the Moon, it can still return to Earth without relying on its own thrust.

If everything proceeds according to plan, the spacecraft will splash down in the Pacific off the U.S. West Coast on April 10, pulled by Earth’s gravity.

As a test mission, there are also many uncertainties in the entire process.

Before departing, Wiseman told the media: “Once we leave Earth, it’s possible we could return home pretty quickly; it’s also possible we’ll stay near Earth for three or four days; and it’s also possible we’ll fly to the Moon—that’s the place we truly want to go. But after all, this is a test mission. When we fly this incredible rocket and spacecraft to a distance of 250k miles from Earth, we’ll be prepared for every possible scenario. It’s going to be an incredible journey!”

According to NASA’s latest added schedule, the Artemis 3 mission will test docking between the Orion spacecraft and a commercial lunar lander in a near-Earth orbit in 2027. At present, SpaceX and Blue Origin are competing to design this lunar lander. Under NASA’s most optimistic expectations, they will be able to carry out the lunar landing missions for Artemis 4 and Artemis 5 in succession by 2028, preparing to establish a long-term lunar base.

Which listed companies are directly involved?

Although this is a NASA-led mission, most of the key components of the spacecraft and launch systems were developed jointly by major aerospace giants.

Among them, Lockheed Martin (LMT) is the prime contractor for the Orion spacecraft, responsible for building the crew module where the astronauts will be located during the mission, as well as the launch escape system used to quickly pull the spacecraft away from the rocket in emergencies.

Boeing (BA) is responsible for the core stage of the “Space Launch System” rocket, including its fuel storage tanks and onboard flight systems. At the same time, the company is also responsible for managing the rocket’s upper-stage propulsion unit, providing the final acceleration for the Orion spacecraft and sending it toward the Moon.

Northrop Grumman (NOC) provides two solid rocket booster engines, and is also responsible for key components related to the spacecraft’s escape system.

(Source: NASA)

Under the cooperation framework between NASA and the European Space Agency, Airbus builds the European Service Module. This module sits beneath the crew module and is responsible for providing propulsion power, electrical power supply, temperature regulation, and life-support resources such as water and oxygen.

L3Harris Technologies (LHX) provides engine systems for the rocket and spacecraft, including the main engines derived from the Space Shuttle program, as well as other propulsion systems used for maneuver and control in space.

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