When I was 10 years old, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. This is what started my life-long interest in space (plus shows like Lost in Space, Star Trek, etc.). The first photo above was actully taken by the crew of Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968. They were the first to travel to the moon but only orbited a few times and returned. Apollo 17 was the last to go to the moon in 1972. The other image is of Buzz Aldrin taken by Neil Armstrong during the first moon landing. It is exciting that we will be going back to the moon with the Artemis missions.
Artemis will start off with 3 missions. The first, Artemis I, was an unmanned mission (Nov, 2022) where the Orion spacecraft orbited the moon for six days and returned to Earth. Artemis II, planned for Nov, 2024 will include an Orion crew of 4 to orbit the moon for 21 days. Artemis III will be the first crewed moon landing of the Artemis mission and is planned to launch late 2025.
In addition to the Orion spacecraft pictured above, long term plans call for a Lunar Basecamp to give astronauts a place to live and work on the moon, the Artemis Base Camp (shown below) concept includes a modern lunar cabin, a rover, and a mobile home.
There will also be a orbiting basecamp called Gateway (see below) where astronauts will transfer between Orion and the lander on regular Artemis missions. Gateway will remain in orbit for more than a decade, providing a place to live and work, and supporting long-term science and human exploration on and around the Moon.
The final piece is the Human Landing System that will take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back to orbit where they will reboard the Orion for the trip home..
credit: nasa.gov/specials/artemis