Humanity is heading back to the Moon — why aren’t more scientists thrilled?

Email Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X NASA’s Orion spacecraft positioned atop the Space Launch System rocket, ready for launch. Credit: NASA/Sam Lott NASA’s Artemis II mission, which is scheduled for launch on 1 April, aims to send humans back to the Moon for the first time since 1972. If all goes to plan, the ten-day mission will see a crew of four astronauts fly by the Moon as soon as 6 April, and could set the record for the farthest a human has ever travelled from Earth. The mission’s main goals are to test aspects of human space flight ahead of future, more complex missions. So far, however, Artemis II and its scientific projects, which range from geology to astronaut health, have yet to spark widespread enthusiasm among researchers. “A fly-by makes sense to demonstrate the systems before attempting a landing,” says Marc Norman, a planetary geochemist at the Australian National University in Canberra. But he says he is “not especially excited at this stage”. “Maybe my excitement level will increase as the program evolves,” he adds. Human space flight is a major focus for US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has sought to accelerate some projects, including an effort to send astronauts to Mars , while also making cuts to NASA’s space science and robotic missions . …