NASA announces acceleration of Artemis 3 mission to land on the Moon in 2028

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the agency is accelerating the implementation of the Artemis 3 program, aiming to land American astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028. Speaking at an event held at Cape Canaveral in Florida, Isaacman said, “We are accelerating the Artemis program. Currently, the Artemis 3 mission rocket is being assembled in the Vehicle Assembly Building. After this mission, we will return American astronauts to the lunar surface in 2028.” The Artemis 3 crew, aboard the Orion spacecraft, is expected to be launched into low Earth orbit by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Subsequently, Orion will dock with Blue Origin’s spacecraft, undock, and then dock with SpaceX’s Starship, after which the crew will return to Earth and splash down in the Pacific Ocean. The mission is expected to last two weeks.