NASA details Artemis III docking test and two lander plans for the 2028 Moon landing

NASA outlined its plans for Artemis III and Artemis IV at Kennedy Space Center on October 23, 2026. Artemis III will send four astronauts to low Earth orbit in summer 2027 for a 14-day mission to practice docking Orion with test versions of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 2 and SpaceX’s Starship landers. Artemis IV, targeting the first crewed lunar landing in 2028, will use one of those landers, and NASA said it will wait as long as possible to choose. NASA also shared updates on the SLS rocket, a stretched Centaur upper stage, a lighter sortie spacesuit, and the progress of both landers. Video Credit: NASA