To the Moon and Back Again: NASA’s Missions to the Moon and Beyond

Between 1969 and 1970, six NASA Apollo missions successfully landed on the Moon. In 2025, NASA plans to return with the Artemis II mission, sending a crew of four astronauts to orbit the Moon with a future mission planned to land in 2026.  In this presentation, we will explore the history of the Apollo program to understand why we went and what we accomplished. We will also examine why it is important for us to return to the Moon, and how the Artemis program will help us send future human missions to Mars.

The presenter is Dave Wells, a member of the Smoky Mountain Astronomical Society and the External Aerospace Education Officer for the Tennessee Wing of Civil Air Patrol (Auxiliary of the US Air Force). Dave is an astronomy and space educator, offering presentations for children at the library and promoting aerospace education throughout schools.