Artemis III Scientist Shares What to Expect From NASA’s Next Lunar Mission
NASA scientist Barbara Cohen explains that the upcoming Artemis III mission will focus on testing rendezvous maneuvers between the Orion capsule and commercial lunar landers in Earth's orbit. The mission serves as a critical technological precursor to future lunar landings.
Why it matters
Understanding the incremental steps of the Artemis program is essential for tracking the progress of human space exploration and commercial space partnerships.
Following the successful Artemis II flyby last April, the program’s schedule was revised. According to the most recent announcements, the next mission will have to wait until 2028, and while the new plans are admittedly less spectacular than a lunar landing, they’re hardly dispensable.
In 2027, NASA plans to test in Earth orbit whether the Orion capsule can safely rendezvous and operate with commercial lunar landing systems from SpaceX and Blue Origin before attempting those same maneuvers around the moon. WIRED en Español spoke with Barbara Cohen, a scientist on the Artemis III project, to better understand this upcoming mission—the conversation ranging from the role humans still play in the face of increasingly capable robots and sensors to what we can learn about the solar system’s violent past from traces preserved on the moon.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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