NASA Deep Space Network Preparations for the Artemis II Crewed Mission to the Moon

NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is preparing to support the upcoming crewed missions that will return humans to the Moon, starting with the Artemis II mission slated to launch in the mid-2020’s. With completion of NASA’s Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission in 2014 and the more recent Artemis I mission launched in late 2022, which both involved testing of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft in a flight environment, the next step will be to send astronauts in Orion to fly by the Moon and return safely to Earth, in preparation for future lunar surface crewed missions. The Artemis II mission will provide this crucial link, bridging the gap between the uncrewed demonstration flights and the crewed lunar surface missions. DSN is slated to provide telecommunications coverage for Artemis II from the time the Orion spacecraft leaves the near-Earth vicinity through lunar transit, arrival, swing-by and departure, and return to the near-Earth vicinity. This paper describes work underway for DSN support of the Artemis II mission, with a focus on the pre-launch end-to-end space communications and RF compatibility test campaign. Differences between the Artemis II and Artemis I missions will be highlighted, including changes to the flight vehicle as well as the ground segment.