Cast your mind back to 1969, if you’re old enough. Before Neil Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface in July, NASA flew Apollo 9, a mission that never left Earth orbit. It docked the Command Module with the Lunar Module, tested the systems, proved the hardware worked together, and gave engineers the confidence to risk sending astronauts to the Moon. Without Apollo 9, Apollo 11 doesn't happen. NASA is about to do the same thing again. Buzz Aldrin on the Moon in a photograph taken by Neil Armstrong, who can be seen in the visor reflection along with Earth, the Lunar Module Eagle, and the U.S. flag (Credit : NASA) The Artemis programme was formally established in 2017 with a clear ambition to return humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, and this time stay. Artemis I, launched in November 2022 and sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon to test the rocket and capsule.…