NASA used the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon mission to announce that it has officially completed the Orion crew module, which is part of the Artemis lunar mission that will return humans to the moon.
The announcement was led by Vice President Pence at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of NASA, and of American industry, the Orion crew vehicle for the Artemis 1 mission is complete and ready to begin preparations for its historic first flight,” said Vice President Pence.
What makes this next mission to the moon particularly unique is that it will include the first woman to walk upon the surface of the moon.
“President Trump and Vice President Pence have given us a bold direction to return to the Moon by 2024 and then go forward to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
“Their direction is not empty rhetoric. They have backed up their vision with the budget requests need to accomplish this objective. NASA is calling this the Artemis program in honor of Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology, the goddess of the Moon. And we are well on our way to getting this done.”
Full details about the 2024 mission can be found here.
Cover image via NASA
