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NASA is currently assembling the Space Launch System rocket designated for the Artemis III mission, a vehicle that will carry human beings closer to the lunar surface than any spacecraft has since Apollo 17 touched down on the Moon in December 1972, ending a silence of more than five decades in human lunar exploration.

The Artemis III mission is scheduled for 2027 and will serve as the first crewed lunar landing attempt of the modern era, with the goal of placing humans on the Moon's surface by 2028. The Space Launch System stands 98 metres tall, generates 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff and is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built surpassing even the Saturn V that carried Apollo astronauts to the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The crew will travel aboard the Orion spacecraft which has been designed to sustain four astronauts through the deep space environment for up to 21 days.

What makes Artemis III historically significant beyond the engineering is that it is planned to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the lunar surface, with SpaceX's Starship selected as the Human Landing System that will ferry the crew from lunar orbit down to the Moon's south pole where water ice has been confirmed in permanently shadowed craters.

Scientists believe the Moon's south pole holds enough frozen water to support long term human presence and future deep space missions, meaning this mission is not just a return but the foundation of a permanent human foothold beyond Earth.

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