The Artemis program

Going back to the Moon, and staying

Only spacecraft can see it

The Artemis program — A lunar base near the pole, with the Sun very low and very long shadows on the ground.

The numbers

What it is: A human return to the MoonWith and without crews
Who carries it out: NASA, companies and foreign partners
The name: From Artemis, Apollo's twinGoddess of the Moon

To get an idea

Apollo was the undertaking of a single country racing another; Artemis is shared work.

The ice in the polar craters is worth its weight in gold: it means water, oxygen and ingredients for fuel.

Fun facts

These are not in the book: there was no room on paper.

The goal is not a short visit but a presence that can last over time.
The focus is above all on the lunar poles, where the shadowed craters hold water ice.
That water would be for drinking, but also for making oxygen and ingredients for fuel.
Bringing everything from home costs a fortune, while finding resources on the spot changes every calculation.
More than half a century has passed between the last Apollo moonwalk and today.

Test yourself

The first question is the one printed under the QR code, with the answer the book did not give. The other four only exist here.

Question 1 of 5★ is the one from your book

What is the goal of the Artemis program?

Question 2 of 5

Where does the name come from?

Question 3 of 5

Who carries out the program?

Question 4 of 5

Why are the lunar poles interesting?

Question 5 of 5

How is it different from Apollo?

Riddles

I carry the name of the twin sister of the one who took you up there half a century ago. This time I do not want a visit of a few hours: I want to stay, with what I need to live. What am I?

I look for the deepest cold, the bottom of the craters where the sun never reaches, because that is where what you need to live is hiding. What am I?

The first time it was a race between two; this time many of us are working on it together: agencies, companies and different countries. What am I?

Try it yourself

Activity 1

Try making a list of everything you would need to stay a month on the Moon: you will understand why people look for water on the spot.

Activity 2

Weigh a full backpack and imagine paying its weight in gold for every pound: that is roughly the cost of carrying something all the way up there.

The words

local resources: Materials found where you work, instead of brought from home.

Sources: Wikidata (Q61048443), Wikipedia (Programma Artemis).