An overview of NASA's exploration mission 2 (EM-2)

While preparations continue for the first integrated test of the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion deep space crew vehicle, and Exploration Ground Systems on Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), flight hardware production and mission planning is already underway for EM-2. EM-2 will be a mission of many firsts. It will be the first test flight of the SLS and Orion with crew, and the first flight of the evolved SLS Block 1B. The crew on EM-2 will travel farther beyond Earth than any explorers have up to this point. Finally, EM-2 can also launch a Power Propulsion Element (PPE), the first piece of the Deep Space Gateway (DSG) concept, into cislunar space. NASA is maturing the DSG concept through a series of activities with both U.S. industry and international partners, with the intent of deploying a focused, flexible capability for sustained human exploration and scientific research of the Moon and beyond, including crewed flights to Mars. Future exploration missions (with opportunities for augmentation flights from commercial and international partners) can support construction, operation, and utilization of the DSG through the 2020s and beyond, including buildup and checkout of a Deep Space Transport (DST) for crewed missions to Mars. This paper will describe EM-2 in the context of NASA's broader exploration strategy and provide a status of planning for this historic mission.