It was a record-breaking mission, propelling humans a quarter of a million miles into the universe and around the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. The 10-day Artemis II project, spearheaded by Nasa, was a big step for man — but is it a bigger step for scientific understanding?
Perhaps not, but that doesn’t make the mission any less important. “This is an exploration-driven mission,” says Katherine Joy, professor of lunar and planetary science at the University of Manchester. “It’s to test technology, it’s to test protocols. It’s to test that all the systems are in place for future missions which will go down to the lunar surface.”
