The Artemis 1 mission of NASA is about to take an important step toward sending people back to the Moon after a 50-year absence. The mission, which is set to launch on August 29, 2022, is a shakedown cruise for NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion Crew Capsule without a crew.
It is planned for the spacecraft to visit the Moon, place a few tiny satellites there, and then enter orbit. To ensure that the spacecraft and any inhabitants can safely return to Earth, NASA wants to practise running the spacecraft, test the circumstances personnel will encounter on and around the Moon, and practise operating the spacecraft.
Jack Burns, a professor and space scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and a former member of the Presidential Transition Team for NASA, was asked by The Conversation to describe the mission, outline what the Artemis programme plans to accomplish for space exploration, and consider how the space programme has changed in the 50 years since humans last set foot on the moon.
How is Artemis 1 different from the other rockets?
The new Space Launch System’s initial launch will be Artemis 1. As NASA puts it, this is a “big lift” vehicle. It will be much more potent than the Saturn V system used by Apollo in the 1960s and 1970s to send people to the Moon, making it the most potent rocket engine ever flown into space.
It is a novel kind of rocket system since it features two strap-on solid rocket boosters taken from the space shuttle in addition to two primary engines made of a mixture of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. It’s a cross between the Saturn V rocket from Apollo and the space shuttle.
Testing is crucial since the Orion Crew Capsule will be put through a lot of stress. It will spend a month in the highly radioactive space environment of the Moon. Most crucially, when it returns to Earth at 25,000 mph, it will test the heat barrier that shields the capsule and its passengers. The heat shield must work properly because this will be the fastest capsule reentry since Apollo.
What is the purpose of the Artemis project?
What new rockets will follow this one? the mission serves as a precursor to Artemis 3, which will bring the first manned lunar missions of the twenty-first century and the first since 1972. A test flight without crew is Artemis 1.
Astronauts will be on board Artemis 2, which will launch a few years after that. It will also be an orbital mission, similar to Apollo 8, which circled the Moon and returned to Earth. The astronauts will orbit the Moon for a longer period and test everything with a human crew.
And lastly, it will result in a trip to the Moon’s surface during which Artemis 3 will meet up with the SpaceX Starship and transfer crew sometime in the middle of the next decade. The lunar Starship will transport the crew to the surface while Orion stays in orbit. They will travel to the south pole of the Moon to examine a region that has never been studied by scientists to the water ice there.
Artemis is reminiscent of Apollo. What has changed in the past half-century?
Kennedy originally intended Apollo to be launched to beat the Soviet Union to the Moon. The administration wasn’t especially interested in space travel or the Moon, but it was an ambitious aim that would undoubtedly place America foremost in terms of technology and space.
The downside of doing that is the old saying “You live by the sword, you die by the sword.” When the US got to the Moon, it was basically. We beat the Russians. So we put some flags down and did some science experiments. But pretty quickly after Apollo 11, within a few more missions, Richard Nixon cancelled the programme because the political objectives had been met.
Therefore, go forward 50 years. This setting is different. Our goal is to start a sustainable expedition beyond Earth’s orbit, not to outperform the Russians, Chinese, or anyone else.
The Artemis initiative is motivated by a variety of objectives. Utilizing local resources, such as water ice and lunar soil, to make food, fuel, and building materials is known as in situ resource use.
What other changes is Artemis planning?
According to the administration, at least one woman and most likely a person of colour will be on the first crewed flight aboard Artemis 3. They might be identical. There could be a number.
I’m looking forward to seeing more of that diversity, because young kids today who are looking up at NASA can say, “Hey, there’s an astronaut who looks like me. I can do this. I can be part of the space programme.”
