Author：Wall Street CN
At approximately 6:40 p.m. Eastern Time on June 6 (6:40 a.m. Beijing Time on June 7), the Orion spacecraft, which was carrying out the US Artemis 2 manned lunar orbit mission, was on the far side of the moon, and the four astronauts entered a planned communication outage of about 40 minutes.
During this period, the Orion spacecraft came within 4,067 miles (6,545 kilometers) of the Moon, which was also the closest the spacecraft came to the lunar surface during this mission; the farthest distance the spacecraft came from Earth was 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers), setting a new record for the distance traveled by humankind in space.
More than half a century ago, American astronauts landed on the moon for the first time aboard Apollo 11. Now, the US government hopes to return to the moon through the Artemis program. However, due to the lack of preparation of key equipment such as the lunar lander and extravehicular activity suits, the conditions for a lunar landing are not yet mature. The Artemis 2 mission will only orbit the moon, not land on it; its core objective is to systematically validate the entire manned deep spaceflight system.
Different purposes of lunar exploration
The Apollo program was a series of manned lunar landing missions organized and implemented by the United States during the Cold War. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, marking the beginning of the US-Soviet space race. In 1961, the Soviet Union's first manned spaceflight put immense pressure on the United States.
The intense competition with the Soviet Union drove the US government to dedicate national resources to the lunar landing program in order to gain space dominance. After numerous flight tests, Apollo 11 sent American astronauts to the moon in 1969. During the Apollo program, the United States achieved six manned lunar landings, while the Soviet Union's manned lunar landing program failed, marking the United States' lead in the space race.
The primary purpose of the Apollo program was a show of power. As John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, commented, the Apollo program was "a product of a specific historical period" and a "remarkable emergency response" undertaken by the United States after it perceived itself to be threatened.
Decades later, with more advanced technology, many countries around the world launched new lunar exploration programs. In December 2017, during his first term, US President Trump announced that American astronauts would return to the moon and eventually go to Mars. This program, named "Artemis," aimed to send astronauts to the moon, maintain America's global leadership in space exploration, establish a "persistent lunar presence," and pave the way for Mars exploration.
Different technical approaches
The Artemis lunar landing program was not a replica of the Apollo program; its complexity far surpassed the latter. Multiple media reports indicate that equipment used in the Apollo program, such as the Saturn V launch vehicle, has been retired, and its production line no longer exists. Current U.S. lunar missions are employing new technologies and standards. This does not signify a technological regression in the United States, but rather a transition to a new generation of systems designed for different exploration objectives.
The Artemis program adopted a relatively conservative technical approach: first, an unmanned test flight; then, a manned lunar orbit; and finally, a lunar landing. The Artemis 1 unmanned lunar orbit test mission was completed in November 2022, but subsequent missions were repeatedly postponed due to technical challenges, schedule delays, and cost overruns, sparking widespread skepticism. The ongoing Artemis 2 mission, utilizing the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft, is making its first manned mission, and its reliability will be fully tested in the deep space environment.
The latest mission schedule shows that the United States plans to carry out the Artemis 3 mission in 2027 to conduct system and operational capability tests in low Earth orbit; and to carry out the Artemis 4 lunar landing mission in 2028.
Regarding the choice of landing site, Apollo 11 landed in the southern part of Mare Tranquilum on the near side of the Moon, a flat region near the lunar equator. The Artemis mission, however, chose to land at the lunar south pole, a more challenging location.
To establish a lunar base and prepare for an eventual landing on Mars, lunar water ice becomes an extremely valuable resource. The lunar south pole, where water ice is relatively concentrated, is the preferred landing site. Lunar water ice resources can not only solve the astronauts' drinking water problem but may also be used to produce liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, providing fuel for further deep space exploration.
Obstacles still need to be overcome
However, the United States still needs to overcome several obstacles before it can truly return to the moon and establish a "sustainable lunar presence".
Technically, NASA has adopted an "outsourcing" model for many missions in recent years, hoping to shorten development cycles and reduce costs through competition among private companies. However, this model has also exposed some drawbacks. For example, the lunar lander and spacesuits required for the Artemis program were sourced from multiple companies, resulting in overall delays.
Currently, both SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing lunar landers, but neither has reached the practical application stage. SpaceX's lunar lander is based on its heavy-lift launch vehicle, Starship, but Starship's five test flights scheduled for 2025 have failed three times; while Blue Origin's lunar lander, Blue Moon, has not yet undergone actual flight testing.
The next-generation extravehicular spacesuit for lunar walks, developed by Axiomtek, is still undergoing multiple rounds of testing and has not yet been delivered.
Furthermore, since Trump began his second term, frequent personnel changes at NASA have added uncertainty to long-term projects like the lunar landing. The Gateway lunar orbital space station was originally the core architecture of the Artemis program, but NASA announced in March of this year that it would suspend the Gateway project and instead focus on building infrastructure that could support continuous operations on the lunar surface.
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