NASA animation shows exactly how its crewed moon mission will unfold

A NASA video (above) reveals in great detail how its upcoming Artemis II mission is expected to play out.

The space agency released the animation last year, but seeing that the Artemis II astronauts could be heading to the moon as early as February 6, it’s a great time to watch it again.

The Artemis II crew members — NASA’s Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch, together with the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen — will launch inside the Orion spacecraft, carried to space by the powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.

The crew will spend 10 days in space, flying first around Earth, then around the moon, before returning for a splashdown landing.

The much-anticipated mission marks the first lunar-bound flight for humans since the final Apollo mission more than 50 years ago.

NASA’s video shows the mission every step of the way, from launch to landing.

“The 10-day test flight will demonstrate a range of deep space exploration capabilities with crew,” the narrator says. “The mission will prove the Orion spacecraft is ready to keep astronauts alive in deep space and allow the crew and ground teams to practice operations essential to the success of future missions.”

The mission does not include a lunar landing. Instead, the four astronauts will come within 4,000–6,000 miles (6,500-9,500 kilometers) of the lunar surface as they fly around the moon.

As the spacecraft returns from the far side of the moon, it’ll be drawn home by Earth’s atmosphere over the course of four days.

In the final stages of the homecoming, Orion and the crew will enter Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of nearly 25,000 miles per hour (about 40,000 kilometers per hour).

Friction with Earth’s atmosphere and the deployment of parachutes will slow its descent in preparation for the splashdown about 50 miles off the California coastline.

NASA is currently running final checks on the rocket, with a wet dress rehearsal expected to take place this weekend. The crew, meanwhile, are now in quarantine as they wait patiently for their trip of a lifetime.