NASA Astronauts Practice Landing Procedures for The Moon | Artemis Missions

NASA Astronauts Practice Landing Procedures for The Moon | Artemis Missions

NASA has certified a new lander flight training course using helicopters in the mountains of northern Colorado. The agency has partnered with the Colorado Army National Guard at the High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site near Gypsum, Colorado, to develop the foundational flight training course to help astronauts practice flight and landing procedures for the Moon. The certification marks an important milestone in crew training for Artemis missions to the Moon, when astronauts will use a commercial human landing system to land on the lunar surface.

During the two-week certification run in late August 2025, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Matthew Dominick participated in flight and landing training to help certify the course. Paired with trained instructors from the Army National Guard, astronauts fly to mountaintops and valleys in a range of aircraft, including LUH-72 Lakotas, CH-47 Chinooks, and UH-60 Black Hawks. 

For more information about HLS, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/hls

Over the course of about 30 days, the Artemis III astronauts will travel to lunar orbit, where two crew members will descend to the surface and spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the Moon conducting new science before returning to lunar orbit to join their crew for the journey back to Earth. Launch is currently scheduled for mid-2027.

Learn more about the Artemis campaign: 
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/

Follow updates on the Artemis blog: 
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

NASA's Artemis III Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/

Read the Artemis Plan (74-page PDF Free Download): 
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf

Credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker
Date: Sept. 12, 2025

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