https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/09/world/artemis-2-laser-communications-scn/index.html
This mission will be manned but will only orbit the moon…
One thing I am suggesting to anyone that will listen is that the ULTIMATE way to get people excited about space would be to have the astronauts on Artemis III (which WILL land on the moon) take along a Ultra High definition 360 degree camera- Lasercom could beam back the footage and people could ‘walk’ on the moon virtually with the astronauts- either in VR with a headset, or at a planetarium…. or in a 360degree video on youtube (though on a screen it would not be as immersive as it would be with a VR headset)…

Can you imagine what that would be like?!

Heck, its NASA, if they started now maybe they could make a REALLY sophisticated 360 camera that had resolution that allowed user to freeze the video and really zoom in on features of interest… combine that with hyperspectral imaging and it becomes a research tool, allowing Geologists on Earth to do a little Lunar field work from their office? All the astronauts walking on the moon could have body-cams – allowing researchers on Earth to crowdsource the exploration…

“The geology team at Houston noticed a rock that had a very different spectral signature on your last moon walk, next time you are out there take a sample of it to bring back to Earth”

It could really maximize the science return…