NASA already has a rocket and a ship to fly to the moon. But astronauts have nothing to land – VTM.cz

Following the change in US administration, NASA continues to prepare for the return of man to the moon. However, the Artemis project has so far shrunk to one foot and the health of the foot has not improved, on the contrary.

NASA basically already has a rocket and a spacecraft to fly to the moon. But the astronauts had nothing to land on the surface.

HLS Gen Jaco McCatta

A new lunar module has been created in the name Human Landing System (HLS). It’s an appropriate name, because its mission is not just to land on the surface like Apollo. It should also include an over-flight stage for orbital and rear traffic under the moon from the Gateway Station.

The three companies received a total of $ 967 million for HLS development last year. Candidates include Dynamics, Jeff Bezos’ national team led by Blue Origin, and SpaceX with its starship population.

Disbursement of funds (in millions of US dollars) for HLS development in the first phase

The first two companies provided fake ups to help them handle the details better. Of course, musk does not have to come with the model. Starship is already being tested in Texas.

Another phase was to come later this month. NASA had to select two suppliers to build HLS. According to On the edge However, the decision was quietly postponed for two months.

According to NASA, the postponement should give the office more time to evaluate all applicants’ plans, which may not be fully utilized. This decision may come slightly earlier than the April decision.

But procrastination alone is not the biggest issue. Congress gave $ 850 million in HLS growth in December, which required $ 3.2 billion per mile. It is almost certain that the Trump administration’s goal will not be achieved and that it will land on the moon in 2024.

HLS is now backed on the other hand. There are ten Democratic senators letters President Biden turned to him and asked him not to postpone the selection of HLS suppliers and to fund the development of HLS growth in fiscal 2022.

Other parts are working

NASA is currently preparing for the Artemis 1 mission. This year, the original release date, is in the stars, but it is still possible. In the VAP Hall of the Kennedy Space Center, the assembly of the side boosters of the SLS rocket, the Orion spacecraft orbiting the moon during the Artemis 1 mission.

Stennis, the center of the rocket, passed a test on Wednesday in January, during which all four RS-25 engines were ignited. Instead of eight minutes, they only worked for one minute. So NASA wants to repeat the test in the week of February 22nd. Engines must run for at least four minutes to meet all test purposes. If the test is successful, the center stage will be loaded on the ship, between March and April, which may be in Florida.

However, work is underway on the Artemis 2 mission, during which Orion will fly around the moon with astronauts and other missions.

Orion has two parts – the spacecraft themselves and the service division. It is based on the European carrier ATV and is provided by the European Space Agency (ESA). On Tuesday, it was announced that Erta had signed an agreement with Airbus to build three more service modules – Artemis for 4 to 6 trips.

The service section has a cylindrical shape and a diameter and a height of four meters. It has four solar fields for power generation. Inside, the main engine has 8.6 tons of fuel and 32 small nozzles. The weight of the section is about 13 tons. In addition to impulse and energy, the unit will also look at living conditions such as water and oxygen.