CONTEXT:

• NASA unveiled the calendar for the “Artemis” programme that will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in half a century, including eight scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024.

BACKGROUND:

• In addition to these missions, which will be all NASA’s efforts, there will be five launches carrying the building blocks of the lunar mini-station “Gateway” which will serve as a staging point for the Moon landing.
• It is located about 250,000 miles from Earth.
• These will be carried out between 2022 and 2024 by private space companies, which NASA will pay for their services.
• The orbital station will initially consist of a simple power and propulsion element and a small habitat module. In 2024, astronauts will stop there en route to the Moon. They will then descend to the surface on a lander.
• A part of the lander will remain on the Moon while the other part will take off and allow the astronauts to return to their station, where they will board the Orion capsule and return to Earth.