NASA is preparing what may be its best chance yet at another Moon landing. The VIPER rover is designed to search for water ice in permanently shadowed craters near the lunar south pole. This mission is critical for future Artemis landings and long-term human activity on the Moon.

NASA’s upcoming Artemis II flight will be the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years, but it will not land on the moon. Here’s why.

NASA announced that the earliest launch window for Artemis II is Feb. 6, 2026, with 12 more possible dates available from February-April. The Artemis mission, a followup to the Apollo program, hopes to have astronauts back on the moon’s surface by 2027.

NASA’s Artemis II mission is set to circle the Moon next month, testing technology and paving the way for future lunar landings and eventual missions to Mars.

A supercomputer simulation of the Apollo 12 landing on the moon was created to "improve its understanding of plume-surface interactions," according to NASA. Credit: Patrick Moran, NASA Ames Research Center/Andrew Weaver,