The 11-million-pound mega rocket SLS (Space Launcher System) was finally rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Launch Pad 39B on January 17 via the giant Crawler Transporter-2 in an operation that lasted nearly 12 hours over a four-mile trek. The SLS will carry the Orion spacecraft along with its four crew members, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on mission Artemis II – a test flight towards the moon. A historic milestone since the space agency’s last lunar mission in 1972, with Apollo 17. That’s fifty-four years ago!
Twenty-four astronauts have been to the moon and back during NASA’s ambitious Apollo missions, of which 12 landed on the lunar surface, with three travelling to the satellite twice, and two walking twice on the lunar regolith! Only four of the legendary astronauts who walked on the moon survive, including Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk alongside Neil Armstrong.
The Artemis mission had earlier planned a lunar landing in 2024, after its first successful uncrewed test flight beyond the moon and back in 2022. We are in 2026 now, and the American government under Trump’s administration is expediting all deep space endeavors, including missions to the moon and mars, to stay ahead of the competition, including the rivals—China and Russia. The latter of the three is anyway lagging miles in the lunar mission currently, but you never know, even as India, Japan, and other nations are inching closer, despite recent setbacks.
With the Artemis II mission, NASA will launch the astronauts to lunar orbit. Why not let ‘em land though? Replying to a user’s query on X/Twitter, NASA informed
Artemis II is the first crewed flight test of the rocket and spacecraft—it will help confirm that systems operate as designed with astronauts aboard. Artemis III will be a landing, where crew members will explore the South Pole of the Moon
So when is the Artemis III mission tentatively projected? Replying to a user comment on X/Twitter, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman affirmed that the agency will have a crewed landing on the moon by 2028.
Artemis II is the first crewed flight test of the rocket and spacecraft – it will help confirm that systems operate as designed with astronauts aboard. Artemis III will be a landing, where crew members will explore the South Pole of the Moon. https://t.co/pEksw7Wogp
— NASA (@NASA) January 17, 2026
Yes.
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) January 14, 2026
