Artemis II is HOME! Here’s what they did… This is the second of three planned NASA missions to go BACK to the moon, in hopes of eventually establishing a MOON COLONY. This mission, Artemis II, is about testing the spacecraft, Orion, during a 10 day trip around earth and the moon while checking the ship’s life support, navigation, communication, and radiation shelter… If you think humans are amazing, follow along for more optimistic science and tech stories! #NASA #space #Artemis #moon #Science

Humans just went farther from Earth than ever before. But why? This was the second of four planned NASA missions to go back to the moon, with the goal of eventually establishing a moon colony. So the crew set off on a 10-day journey, first traveling around Earth in a high orbit, and during that time astronauts checked the ship and tested life support and navigation and communication. And then they started a four-day trip to the moon, traveling nearly half a million kilometers from Earth. They swung around behind the moon, going 6,600 kilometers farther than the Apollo 13 record set back in 1970. This let them test the radiation shelter, and observe the far side of the moon for future missions. They used the moon's gravity to help them fly back around to Earth and accomplish what might have been the most dangerous part of the mission. Reentry. When they pierce through the atmosphere at 40,000 kilometers an hour, the heat shield protecting them from super-hot plasma reaching temperatures half as hot as the sun. Thankfully, they safely splash down in the Pacific Ocean. To find out what they learned, follow along.