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Archive for January 29, 2026

Ephemeris: 01/29/2026 – After Artemis 2 comes Artemis 3 and the landing

January 29, 2026 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, January 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 9 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 5:47, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:04. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:44 tomorrow morning.

If Artemis 2 is successful in the late winter and early spring of this year, the next mission will be Artemis 3, a mission to land near the South Pole of the Moon. In order for that to happen a lunar Lander will have to be ready and tested. The Starship HLS or human landing system is currently being built by SpaceX. It’s delivery to the Moon, via Superheavy, Starship’s big booster, will require multiple launches and refueling in orbit, which has yet to be tested. There has been some question as to how many refueling trips will be necessary. NASA and SpaceX seem to differ. However, an uncrewed successful landing will have to be made to prove out the system before the Artemis 3 landing will be attempted.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EST, UT – 5 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Artist's visualization of a Starship HLS on the Moon,near the Moon's South Pole.
Artist’s visualization of a Starship HLS on the Moon,near the Moon’s South Pole, where both the Earth and the Sun are low to the horizon. Credit: SpaceX.
Categories: Artemis Program, Ephemeris Program, Space Flight Tags: , ,