--- title: "NASA Says It’ll Be Launching Crewed Moon Mission Around Thanksgiving 2024" description: "NASA has reinforced the launch date for its crewed Artemis II Moon mission next year — that is, if they're able to make it." date: "2023-03-07" modified: "2023-03-07" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-artemis-ii-launch-date" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "artemis" - "NASA" - "Orion" - "the digest" --- # NASA Says It’ll Be Launching Crewed Moon Mission Around Thanksgiving 2024 ![NASA has reinforced the launch date for its crewed Artemis II Moon mission next year — that is, if they're able to make it.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Launch Date NASA has reinforced the launch date for its crewed Artemis II Moon mission — that is, if they're able to hold themselves to it. In a [press conference held earlier on Tuesday](), agency representatives said that everything they've learned during the first, uncrewed iteration of the Artemis mission is putting NASA on track to send astronauts up to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century in roughly 18 months. As *Ars Technica*'s [Eric Berger noted on Twitter](), Jim Free, the associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Development said that the agency "is still targeting, approximately, 'November 2024' for Artemis II." ## Char-Broiled Those comments seemed to be echoed by quotes from the Tuesday presser as transcribed by Orlando's *WKMG-TV*, in which NASA officials boasted about how well things have gone for the [historically touch-and-go Artemis program]() since it launched its first un-crewed Orion capsule in [November 2022](). In particular, the [intense charring of the Orion capsule]() upon its reentry has, per project manager Howard Hu, helped NASA recalibrate the capsule to be better equipped once it has humans on board. While the capsule's heat shields were obviously built to withstand the uber-high temperatures of reentering Earth's atmosphere, the amount of material that burned up — which is, per Hu, still under investigation — seemed to take NASA by surprise. All said, things have gone much more smoothly for the Artemis mission since NASA was able to get its initial uncrewed launch up and running late last year. But as spacewatchers know, a lot can go wrong between now and a planned launch date. **More on NASA:** [*Wu-Tang Affiliate Collaborates With NASA to Release Rap Song About Space*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()