NASA frames Artemis II to be humanity’s return to the Moon, when in reality, it’s a test for something much farther—and far riskier. On April 1st, humans witnessed Earth fade into the distance for the first time in over 50 years. This mission sent four astronauts around the Moon and back for the first time since the Apollo era of the early 1970s.
Unlike Apollo, however, Artemis will not be making contact—in fact, it centers a different mission entirely: to test human’s continued capacity for deep space travel in the age of new technologies. NASA’s Space Launch System can haul heavier cargo farther than any rocket before. When paired with the cutting-edge life support technologies of the Orion spacecraft, Artemis II offers real potential for the future of deep space exploration.
This raises a larger question: what exactly are we preparing for? Artemis is a stepping stone—not a destination; the long-term goal is a touchdown on Mars. A round-trip mission to the Moon takes about a week; that same mission to Mars would span two to three years—years in which astronauts would be subject to extreme radiation, isolation, and psychological stress. In a deep space environment where communications can delay over 20 minutes, reliability is everything. That’s precisely what Artemis II is testing: not whether we can reach deep space, but if that contact can be safely sustained long enough to support missions like Mars at all.
Even so, the likely success of the Artemis mission carries implications beyond engineering, forcing the question of whether the cost, risk and long-term commitment of deep space missions like Mars are truly justified.
This article also appears in our April 2026 print edition.
