Artist's concept of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway orbiting the Moon with the Orion spacecraft on the right. | |
Mission type | Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) |
---|---|
Operator | NASA |
Mission duration | 16-26 days[1] |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft type | Orion MPCV |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 2024 (planned)[2] |
Rocket | SLS Block 1B |
Launch site | Kennedy LC-39B |
End of mission | |
Landing site | Pacific Ocean |
Orion Program |
The Exploration Mission-3, or EM-3, is a planned 2024 mission of the Space Launch System and second crewed mission of NASA's Orion spacecraft.[2] The intended goal of the mission is to deliver the ESPRIT and U.S. Utilization modules to the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G).[3]
The EM-3 mission plan is to send four astronauts in the second manned Orion capsule into a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon for a maximum of 26 days. It will also deliver two more elements of the future Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), a small space station, to lunar orbit. The LOP-G components will be ESPRIT and the U.S. Utilization Module.[4] Exploration Missions 3 through 8 would complete the assembly of the Lunar Gateway.[5][6][7]