It will be an uncrewed trip, but it will mark the beginning of the return of man (and the first woman) to the Moon. The NASA has given the green light to the Artemis I mission, which will depart for our satellite from August 29 (there is still no specific date and it could be delayed until mid-September), giving the starting signal to the new era of conquest mole.
This mission will be the litmus test for the Space Launch System (SLS, for its acronym in English), the megarocket that will fly for the first time to carry the capsule Orion -which will be his second foray into space- in orbit around the Luna on a round trip that will last just over a month. A kind of ‘simulation’ to test the equipment before sending a manned mission and, later, the definitive one, which will land on our satellite.
“Our teams have been working very hard for a long, long time to get to this point,” he said during an online press conference. Rick LaBrode, principal flight director for Artemis 1 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC). “The mission is very special and we are very excited.”
If all goes according to plan, on August 29, the SLS will roar through the atmosphere to reach orbit in just 8.5 minutes. The upper stage of the massive rocket will deploy Orion into a translunar injection orbit 80 to 90 minutes after liftoff. Those milestones will kick off about an action-packed month in space for Orion. “There will hardly be time to catch your breath. We have already started! Judd Frielingclimb and entry flight director for Artemis 1.
As Orion rises towards the Moon, the upper stage of the SLS will be tasked with deploying several cubesats, which will remain orbiting our satellite; for its part, Orion will point to a retrograde lunar orbit. It will remain there for several weeks, then be assisted by the moon’s gravity for the journey back to Earth.
Scheme of the voyage of Artemis I
The spacecraft has three main goals: to demonstrate that it can return through Earth’s atmosphere safely; that it can work consistently in an ‘in-flight environment’ from launch to splashdown; and, finally, that it can keep astronauts safe after reentry. Additionally, the ship will take ‘selfies’ of its solar panels to keep society’s attention on the trip.
“For example, when we get to the point where we’re further than any manned spacecraft, further than any of the Apollo vehicles have gone, we’ll broadcast this milestone through an event,” LaBrode explained.
The last major milestone of the Orion mission will be a high-speed re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere, with the goal of splashing down off the coast of San Diego. You’ll descend into the Pacific Ocean by parachute, and just before you arrive, you’ll perform a “landing orientation” maneuver to glide through the ocean waves at just the right angle.
There, the rover’s power will remain on for approximately two hours to test whether Orion is adequately maintaining the temperature inside the capsule. Afterward, a US Navy ship will retrieve the ship.
After the mission, there will be months of analysis to ensure that SLS and Orion are ready to transport humans. The current schedule calls for Artemis II to carry a crew into lunar orbit in 2024 and for Artemis III, the first human lunar landing mission since Apollo 17 in 1972, to land on the surface beginning in 2025.