The Nasa-led Artemis-3 mission will place the first human boots on the surface of the Moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt left the lunar surface in December 1972.
The goal of the Artemis programme is to establish a permanent human presence on Earth’s natural satellite and an economy based around the Moon. Artemis-3 is scheduled for no sooner than September 2026. However, further delays are likely and there are many technical challenges yet to overcome. Some might wonder whether it is going to happen at all.
