NASA Artemis 1 launch: what the mission means for human survival on the Moon

NASA further reported that there were no astronauts inside the Orion capsule atop the rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Instead, three test dummies were fitted for the lunar-orbiting mission, which was expected to last six weeks.

While the world waits glued to their screens, eager to see the launch National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) New Era of Moon Exploration, Let us take a look at the Artemis program and what is its purpose.

What is the Artemis Program?

The maiden flight of the first biology experiment of the 21st-century Moon exploration program, operated by the United States Space Agency, named Artemis after the mythical twin sister of Apollo.

According to her Twitter bio, NASA aims to ‘land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon’. Artemis is a manned and robotic moon exploration program. If successful, the Artemis program would re-establish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket is the most powerful rocket ever built by NASA, even more powerful than the Saturn V, which took astronauts to the Moon half a century ago.

Moon landing

If the test goes well, the astronauts will follow in a second flight and fly around the Moon and back, which is expected by 2024. This could be followed by a two-person lunar landing by the end of 2025. NASA has said that they are targeting the South Pole of the Moon.

During Apollo, 12 astronauts landed on the Moon from 1969 to 1972, lasting no more than a few days. NASA wants to establish a lunar base during Artemis, with astronauts roaming around for weeks at a time. The next step will be Mars, possibly in the late 2030s or early 2040s.

NASA Orion Spacecraft Journey

-NASA’s Orion spacecraft will launch on a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from Kennedy Space Center.

-Then Orion will enter orbit around Earth, at which point it will deploy four solar panels that will provide the spacecraft with electricity.

The upper stage of the SLS rocket will provide the critical thrust needed for Orion to escape Earth orbit and head towards the Moon. About two hours after liftoff, the Orion spacecraft is about to separate from the top stage of the SLS rocket.

The Orion spacecraft will continue its journey to the Moon with the help of a service module supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Orion spacecraft will fly at a distance of about 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) on its closest approach to the surface of the Moon.

-Orion will use Moon’s gravity To reach a distant retrograde orbit about 40,000 miles from the Moon.

The spacecraft will remain in that orbit for more than six days, and the data will provide mission controllers at NASA with a chance to understand its performance.

Six days later, the Orion spacecraft will activate its servicing module to return to Earth. At this point it will again use the Moon’s gravity to accelerate its journey.

There will be a split between Orion’s crew module and its service module before the spacecraft returns to Earth.

-When Orion re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft’s temperature will reach about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the heat shield will protect the crew module.

Orion will complete its mission by splashing into the Pacific Ocean at a safe speed of about 20 mph after being slowed down by parachute.

Experiment

Also called BioExpt-1, it is a set of four experiments that will study the effects of space radiation before humans land on the Moon and then on Mars.

Scientists are sending not only plant seeds and algae but also cellular systems such as fungi, and yeast to study radiation effects and how biological systems can adapt and evolve in deep space. They will collect data before and after the flight and analyze the changes to understand what all of these biological systems experienced during the flight.

NASA said that biological experiment Will be divided into two science bags and placed in container assembly. The experiments will travel atop the Space Launch System along with the Orion spacecraft’s Crew Module, and will travel 60,000 kilometers from the Moon and return to Earth.

Humans on Moon, Mars – Contribution of Artemis

Long-distance space travel has many effects on the human body and understanding these effects will ensure a better strategy to counter or reduce them.

“The experiment is called BioExperiment 1 and consists of four different experiments that cover four different biological samples. They all help us understand how biological systems taken from Earth thrive in space. So we’ll get a pretty good understanding of about 42. What this biology would do, said Dr. Sharmila Bhattacharya, NASA’s program scientist for space biology. “

first article