Artemis II sent humans the farthest distance they have ever traveled around the Moon, but NASA is already looking ahead to future missions. With the Orion capsule barely out of the Pacific, NASA is already planning the next chapter of its Artemis program. The Artemis II spacecraft provided unprecedented views of the far side of the Moon, a solar eclipse seen from lunar orbit for the first time, and a new record distance for humans in space. The mission is the latest in a series of NASA plans that will ultimately return humans to the Moon and establish a permanent base there. "The next mission is very close," said incoming flight director Rick Henfling after the crew landed on Friday. Last month, NASA announced a phased plan to build a permanent base on the Moon, with Artemis III and IV missions playing a key role. Initially, Artemis III was intended to be the lunar landing mission, but in March, NASA announced it would become a demonstration mission to test the landing spacecraft from Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin. The new Artemis III, planned for next year, will see astronauts dock their Orion capsule with a lunar lander in low Earth orbit to certify the vehicles ahead of a crewed landing. SpaceX and Blue Origin are racing to have their landing spacecraft ready first. Blue Origin aims for an uncrewed test launch of its Blue Moon lander later this year, while SpaceX's Starship-based landers have faced delays, with significant milestones still unresolved. After Artemis III, NASA said it plans to send a mission to the Moon every year. Artemis IV, planned for early 2028, will see astronauts transfer from Orion to a commercial lunar lander that will take them to the surface. In its plans for the lunar base, NASA said initial missions will send rovers, instruments, and technology to the lunar surface to study how energy can be generated, how communications can function, and how to navigate the terrain. The next phase will involve building partially habitable structures and establishing regular supply deliveries, including a collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which is developing a pressurized rover for crewed surface exploration. The final phase will see larger equipment transfers and eventually a sustained human presence, moving away from short visits to a permanent base. NASA has already signed partnerships with Italy and Canada and plans to add further contributions covering habitation, surface mobility, and logistics. The agency announced the changes to align its work with the U.S. National Space Policy, published last December, which directed NASA to return astronauts to the Moon, reform the nation's role in commercial space operations, and lead the world in space exploration.