Orion, with its safe, tried and true design, passes the iconic vehicle assembly building at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base on November 11, 2014. Via picture Tampa Bay Times.
Artemis I. This is the first in a series of unprecedented NASA passengers, currently scheduled to launch from the agency in November 2021. Kennedy Space Center In Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will serve as an unopened aerial test in preparation for Artemis III, which is set to launch mankind’s next command and first woman to the moon in 2024.
Named Sister to Apollo In Greek mythology, the undiscovered Artemis spacecraft was possible using two of NASA’s latest deep space systems: Orion, A group module designed to carry humans into space, and Space launch system (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world ever built. This would be a testament to NASA’s ability to carry out human exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond, which is said to be faster and more technologically advanced than ever before.
Mike SarabinThe Artemis I mission manager at NASA headquarters said:
It is a task of actually doing what is not done and learning the unknown. It will burn a track that people will follow on the next Orion flight, pushing the edges of the envelopes to prepare for that task.
Team Module Orion and SLS Rocket Kennedy Space Center are expected to be launched together as a historic highlight Start complex 39b. SLS – more powerful rocket than Saturn V to launch Apollo astronauts to the moon – will produce 8.8 million pounds of propulsion (39 million) Newton) With six boosters and four engines to lift the vehicle into orbit for six million pounds (2.7 million kg) during the liftoff. After releasing the boosters, the engines are shut down and the core (main body) of the rocket is separated from the spacecraft.
Subsequent technological impulses will give Orion the courage to exit Earth’s orbit and orbit the Moon, but not before dropping many smaller satellites. Cubsots On the way to it. These cubes will perform a series of experiments and demonstrations unrelated to Artemis’ work in deep space, exposing living microbes to deep space radiation for the first time in more than 40 years.
Once in lunar orbit, Orion collects data and operates mission controllers to evaluate its performance for a week. When the house is ready to return, Orion will use its space propulsion system Presented by the European Space Agency (ESA) to return to Earth, along with the Moon’s gravity. ESA service module, in addition to space propulsion – will provide power, air and water for astronauts on future missions.
After about three weeks and 1.3 million miles (2.1 million km), the Artemis I mission will test Orion’s return capabilities by landing near a rescue ship off Baja Beach, California. All of this may seem like a lot of complicated, technical work. That, but do not worry – this useful NASA video explains the whole process:
Although the corona virus The infection reduced the testing of SLS, and the process now begins again At the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Boeing spearheaded the construction of the Megaracket SLS, which is now in the testing process Green run. It will reach a climax Hot fire test, Where the rocket fires its engines when built on the ground, and withstands every step of a launch as it actually happens. The test run was originally scheduled for November 2020 and is now scheduled for the end of December. This delay may make a little difference as I continue to track the contents of Artemis starting in 2021.
After the hot fire test, the core level will be updated and brought to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for several more tests. The development of Orion, led by Lockheed Martin and Airbus Defense and Space, faced its own delays, although the spacecraft was on track to launch Artemis I in early 2021.
The second mission – Artemis II – is scheduled to test Orion’s vital systems with humans in August 2023. As planned, it was the first group spacecraft to cross the low-Earth orbit after Apollo 17 in 1972.
Future team exploration missions on the Orion spacecraft will carry the gateway, which NASA plans to build into orbit around the moon, which will support stable, long-term human arrival on the lunar surface. NASA Lunar Director Marshall Smith Says:
We do not need to take the giant leap at once. For future work, after proving that we can reach the moon and get a lander for the job, they can both be taken to the entrance.
Bottom line: The Artemis I is an unopened test aircraft, where the crew will be launched with the Orion space launch system, designed to be the most powerful rocket in the world. This is the first in a series of missions aimed at bringing humans back to the moon and then to Mars.
Read more from Earthsky: NASA to test its SLS mega-rocket in the coming weeks
