The 322-foot-tall rocket stands ready on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center. Fueling tests are done. The four astronauts it will send on a journey around the moon are waiting in quarantine.NASA is making final preparations for its Artemis II mission, which could launch as early as Wednesday — a feat more than a decade and tens of billions of dollars in the making. When the astronauts finally lift off, they will be the first to launch toward the moon in more than 50 years, and they could venture farther from Earth than humanity ever has before.But the road to this point has been long, winding and bumpy, not to mention inordinately expensive.AdvertisementAdvertisement“This rocket was originally supposed to launch in 2016 and cost $5 billion,” said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy for The Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization that conducts research and advocacy to promote space exploration. “It costs something like $20 billion now, 10 years after that.”Combined, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft have cost more than $44 billion to develop. The upcoming launch will be the first time they carry people.The four Artemis II crew members during a countdown demonstration test on Dec. 20: From left, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Reid Wiseman. (Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP file)(Phelan M. Ebenhack)The Artemis program’s ever-ballooning price tag is one of several targets for its skeptics, many of whom share a “been there, done that” attitude. The years of delays are another, especially as China’s human spaceflight capabilities have rapidly advanced. Some experts and former astronauts have also voiced concerns about the Orion capsule’s heat shield, which sustained unexpected damage in the uncrewed Artemis I flight nearly four years ago and soon has to protect four crew members as they plunge through Earth’s atmosphere.It all raises the question: Can Artemis II inject enough momentum into NASA’s return-to-the-moon program to quell its critics?Why go back to the moon?Unlike in the short visits of the Apollo program in the 1960s and ’70s, Artemis’ eventual goal is to facilitate long-term stays on the moon to construct a lunar outpost, conduct scientific exploration of the lunar south pole and help NASA prepare for future missions to Mars. Jared Isaacman, the agency’s administrator, said Tuesday that it plans to spend $20 billion to build that lunar base.AdvertisementAdvertisementSome lawmakers, former NASA officials and members of the public have argued that rather than repeat accomplishments notched half a century ago, NASA should focus its human spaceflight efforts on pushing deeper into the solar system, such as to Mars.However, Pamela Melroy, a retired NASA astronaut who was the agency’s deputy administrator from 2021 to 2025, said there is value in establishing a long-term human presence on the lunar surface and mining for valuable resources there, like water ice that could be used to make rocket fuel.More in Science“I’ve always thought it was not a race for boots on the moon, because we won that race more than 50 years ago,” Melroy said. “It was actually going to be a race for values as we humans go out in the solar system.”The Artemis program, she continued, is a chance to establish a new lunar economy, conduct rigorous, long-term science on the moon and locate resources that could be used for missions to Mars. As Melroy sees it, the effort is also A …
