Abstract
NASA’s Artemis program represents a critical step in humanity’s return to the Moon and future crewed missions to Mars. Artemis missions aim to test and develop the systems, habitats, and human performance strategies required for sustained space exploration. These missions vary widely in duration, distance from Earth, and exposure to different environmental stressors, such as radiation and altered gravity, each presenting unique challenges for crew health and performance. Artemis I through VI progressively advance NASA’s goals, from uncrewed lunar flybys to crewed landings, the construction of the Gateway station, and the establishment of Artemis Base Camp. These missions serve as platforms to study critical aspects of human spaceflight. Research includes the effects of sleep disruption, cognitive function under stress, manual control in varied gravity, teamwork under communication delays, emergency egress post-landing, immune system vulnerability, and vision changes linked to microgravity. Beyond Artemis, long-duration deep space missions face major challenges including high radiation exposure, psychological and physiological stress from isolation and reduced gravity, limited extra-vehicular activity mobility, and the need for sustainable life support systems. Addressing these requires breakthroughs in radiation protection, artificial gravity, autonomous crew training, and closed-loop ecological systems.