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NASA unveiled Thursday the "Artemis" program schedule that will bring astronauts back to the moon for the first time in half a century, including eight scheduled launches and a lunar orbit mini-station by 2024.
The original lunar missions bore the name of Apollo. Artemis was her twin sister in Greek mythology and the goddess of hunting, nature and the moon.
Trustee Jim Bridenstine confirmed that Artemis 1 would be an unprepared mission around the Moon scheduled for 2020.
Then comes Artemis 2, which will orbit the Earth's satellite with a crew around 2022; finally followed by Artemis 3 who will put the astronauts on lunar soil in 2024, including the first woman.
The three vehicles will be launched into space by the largest rocket of all time, the Boeing-driven Space Launch System (SLS), which is under development but has experienced many delays and which has made criticized in some circles as an overworked work program.
The Orion capsule, of which Lockheed Martin is the main contractor, will be affixed at the top.
In addition to these missions, which will be all efforts of NASA, five launches will carry the basic elements of the lunar mini-station "Gateway", which will be used as a starting point for the landing of the Moon.
These will be carried out between 2022 and 2024 by private space companies, which NASA will finance for their services.
The orbital station will initially consist of a single element of power and propulsion and a small habitat module. In 2024, the astronauts will stop there en route to the Moon.
They will then descend to the surface on a lander.
Part of the LG will remain on the Moon while the other will take off and allow the astronauts to return to their position, where they will embark in the Orion capsule and return to Earth.
Bridenstine said Thursday that NASA had chosen the Maxar private company to build the station's first module, the power and propulsion element, which would rely on huge solar panels.
In the coming months, NASA will have to decide who will build the LG. Aerospace giants such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin are fighting for the contract, as are new players such as Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
"We do not own the equipment, we buy the service," said Bridenstine of the LG. "The goal here is speed, 2024 is near."
He added: "Our goal is to go to Mars without trapping on the surface of the moon."
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