NASA, Artemis and Space Launch System
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The Artemis II mission around the moon will be a brilliant last hurrah for several space shuttle engines and booster rocket parts that first flew as far back as 1982.
The per-pound cost of carrying anything into outer space has fallen more than 90% since modern day rocketry’s inception. This relatively new degree of affordability is accelerating the development of satellites and other technologies that can make good use of it.
While I was leading a tour of the National Air and Space Museum in January 2026, a visitor posed this insightful question: “Why has it taken so long to return to the Moon?” After all, NASA had the know-how and technology to send humans to the lunar surface more than 50 years ago as part of the Apollo program.