2024-03-01 01:55:16
Astronauts from the space mission “Artemis 2” (“Artemis 2”) are already preparing for the return to the moon, reported AFP. Although their trip there won’t happen until September 2025, the four astronauts are training in the sea off California with the help of the US Navy aboard a huge amphibious ship, with hundreds of sailors on board.
Preparation is important to move on to the final stage of the historical mission.
Commander Reed Wiseman and his three colleagues will become the first humans to return to the Moon after more than 50 years of absence. If all goes well, they will return from the moon after a 10-day flight in the Orion capsule and dive into the sea. They must be prepared in case of a possible storm, an injured astronaut, etc. The training allows all the details to be cleared, especially thanks to a replica of the Orion capsule.
We are constantly thinking about what lies ahead, NASA’s Lily Villarreal, who is leading the return leg, told AFP. “We have to be prepared for all scenarios.” According to her, with the “Artemis” program, humanity is returning to the moon, but not to reach it, but to stay, and for a long time.
If “Artemis 2” (“Artemis 2”) is successful, the third mission of the program, scheduled for the end of 2026, should allow a permanent stay of humans. The goal is to carry out missions lasting several weeks, and then build a base on the surface, as well as a space station in orbit around the moon, capable of serving as a stopover on the way to Mars. It is the Red Planet that interests NASA. “Our Earth is running out of resources,” stressed Villarreal. “We have to decide what would be best for humanity.”
For several years, private companies have had ambitions to send tourists, and new players in the space race – India, Japan, China – managed to land an apparatus.
Beijing wants to send humans in the 2030s, and that desire is putting pressure on NASA not to delay.
Astronaut Christina Koch, who is part of the Artemis 2 mission (“Artemis 2”), will be the first woman to go that far in space. The rest of the crew consists of Canadian Jeremy Hansen and Victor Glover. Glover will be the first black astronaut to participate in a lunar mission, BTA reported.
The Apollo space program sent 24 men to the moon between 1969 and 1972. Only eight of them are alive today. Thomas Stafford, a participant in “Apollo 10”, is invited to lunch by the crew of “Artemis 2” (“Artemis 2”). He asked us what we would do if our computers broke down or if we didn’t follow the flight path, the astronauts said of the meeting with Stafford. “Behave like a father who wants to be sure his children will be protected.”