Artemis II’s long countdown – a space historian explains why it has taken over 50 years to return to the Moon

NASA’s Artemis II mission took decades of policymaking, engineering and financial support.

By: Emily A. Margolis, Smithsonian Institution, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: March 31, 2026

Words: 1,542

Last Updated: 4 months ago

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By Emily A. Margolis, Smithsonian Institution

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. And, as another tour guest reminded us, computers …

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