Alex McColgan

This may make you wonder why there is suddenly this rush to get to the moon again.

And while NASA would have never stopped going, the real reason is funding from the US government.

And the US is becoming acutely aware of heavy competition in this sector.

China's plans to also get to the moon.

It's quickly becoming a race, and the US government does not want to be left behind.

But as I mentioned earlier, the horizon goal of the Artemis program

is not only to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon, but to provide a proving ground for an eventual crewed mission to Mars.

In 2029, NASA will roll out Block 2, an even more powerful version of the Space Launch System, fully capable of sending the Orion Space Shuttle to Mars.

If all goes as planned, NASA hopes to shift its attention to a Mars mission sometime in the 2030s.

That's only a decade away.

But to get there, a lot will have to go right, and it all starts with the Artemis I mission.

Artemis I could be a watershed moment that jumpstarts a golden age of space exploration.

I don't know about you, but when Artemis I blasts off, I will be glued to my computer watching all the latest news and updates.

The time when we travel far beyond the Earth and inhabit other worlds might be closer than you think.

So, if this is an idea that excites you, you'll definitely want to stick around, because I'll have a lot more about Artemis and space colonisation in the future.

You may have heard me mention the Artemis program on this channel, the ambition of NASA to get a human colony on the Moon and eventually on Mars.

A big part of this venture is Gateway.

A joint effort by NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, JAXA and the CSA, the same space agencies that are currently working together on the ISS.

And like the ISS, Gateway will be a space station, but not around the orbit of Earth, but instead around the Moon.

So, how will it work?