Zahlen, bitte! Artemis 2: 406,771 kilometers past the Moon away from Earth
Artemis 2 matches Apollo 13's record: no humans have ever been this far from Earth before. European technology is crucial for this.
On April 6, 2026, the Orion MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle) of the Artemis 2 mission moved farther from Earth than any crewed spacecraft before. With a maximum distance of approximately 406,771 kilometers, the crew surpassed the old record set almost exactly 56 years prior by the crew of Apollo 13, not entirely voluntarily.
The cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency ESA makes the renewed moon flight possible: the European Service Module (ESM) is a crucial component of the Orion spacecraft. It provides the main propulsion on the way to and from the Moon and ensures the life support of the Crew Module (CM). According to ESA, this is the first time NASA has commissioned an international partner to develop key technologies for its space missions.
Origin in an automated transport system
The origin of the ESM lies in the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The unmanned ESA space transporter flew to the International Space Station ISS a total of five times between 2008 and 2014 under impressive names (Verne, Kepler, Amaldi, Einstein, Lemaître), supplying the crews with food and materials.
Through the ATV flights, ESA contributed to the joint operation of the space station. When the flights ceased, as the unmanned US transporters Cygnus and Dragon became ready for launch and took over the supply flights, NASA and ESA agreed in 2012 to jointly develop a moon spacecraft.
In addition to the launch vehicle named Space Launch System (SLS), which partially incorporated rocket technology from the Space Shuttle missions, a lunar spacecraft was under development [engl, PDF].
(Image:Â NASA)
The result was a system conceptually similar to the Apollo spacecraft: it consists of a Spacecraft Adapter connecting to the SLS rocket, the Service Module as the supply and flight system, and the Crew Module as the living and working space for the crew. Additionally, at the tip of the rocket is the Launch Abort System, which automatically pulls the capsule away from the danger zone in case of a serious accident during launch. NASA states that the escape system accelerates the capsule to 500 mph (approximately 804.672 km/h) within 2 seconds in an emergency.
Much larger space capsule
Further development is also evident in the capsule itself: the Crew Module, developed by Lockheed Martin, is about 60 percent larger than the Apollo capsule. This doesn't make it a space marvel – the astronauts should enjoy a tent-like atmosphere – but it offers many more possibilities than the capsule did during the first moon landings. Four people can travel to the Moon or farther with it; for missions in Earth orbit, up to six people can fly. NASA also states that astronauts with heights between 1.47 to 1.96 meters could board the spacecraft – at least in terms of size, this would make 99 percent of the world's population eligible as crew members. Furthermore, it finally includes a toilet – if it works.
A crew is not strictly necessary: thanks to the powerful automatic control of the ESM, an Orion spacecraft could orbit the Moon for up to six months without a crew. In this system, a total of 33 thrusters are controlled by the onboard computer, incorporating data from over 100 temperature and pressure sensors.
Repurposed Space Shuttle Engine in the ESM
The ESM uses a former Space Shuttle engine provided by NASA: the engine from Artemis 1 alone had flown in space a total of 19 times before. Orion carries two independent onboard computers, which are themselves doubly modular, resulting in a total of four systems that can swap system support in an emergency. According to NASA, compared to the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), which safely brought six crews to the Moon and back with 1960s technology, the two computer systems are each about 20,000 times faster and have 128,000 times more memory.
Here's some more useless "Zahlen, bitte!" party trivia: NASA counts a total of 355,056 individual parts for the Orion spacecraft. These are divided into 41,858 parts for the launch abort system, 209,544 parts for the crew module, 103,023 parts for the service module, and 631 integration parts. In total, according to NASA, the spacecraft has 77,150 different types of parts.
The currently ongoing Artemis 2 mission is primarily a preparatory mission for further lunar missions. On one hand, the aim is to test the performance of the systems with a crew and identify potential improvements. So far, they have encountered quite earthly problems: for example, the toilet was out of order for a short period, as was Outlook.
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New perspectives on the Moon
On the other hand, attention is focused on further lunar exploration. With the exception of Apollo 13, previous Apollo missions generally orbited much closer to the Moon, meaning a large part of the Moon – also due to the sun's position – had not been photographed before. Although Apollo 13 flew only insignificantly closer to the Moon relative to Earth at 400,171 kilometers, the crew had enough on their hands with their own rescue that they didn't consider using the orbit for research purposes.
During its flyby, Artemis 2 systematically investigated interesting regions that could be considered for lunar landings. Through photos, observations, and further data collection, the groundwork is being laid for a moon landing – perhaps even with a German astronaut on board.
(mawi)
