NASA is “in the home stretch” of its Artemis I mission launch as it will deploy the world’s most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and Orion capsule to the launch pad in just two weeks.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a Wednesday briefing: “It’s now the Artemis generation,” Nelson said. ‘
“We were in the Apollo generation, but it’s a new generation, it’s a new type of astronaut. And to all of us who stare at the moon dreaming of the day when humanity returns to the lunar surface, folks, here we are. We go back and this journey, our journey, begins with Artemis I.’
The US space agency held the press briefing to discuss what the world will see when the mission kicks off at 8:33 a.m. ET on August 29.
The SLS and Orion crew capsule will stand proudly at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39b in Cape Canaveral, Florida, which could see at least 100,000 people gather along the coast to witness the historic maiden flight.
The 32-story rocket will generate 8.8 million pounds of thrust as it lifts off, allowing it to soar through the atmosphere before separating from the Orion craft eight minutes later.
Orion will then begin its journey to the moon, its closest point being just 63 miles from the lunar surface and 38,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon at its furthest point.
The months-long mission is more of a test bed to ensure the rocket and capsule are able and safe to carry the first woman and person of color to the moon in 2025, which is a stepping stone to putting the first humans on Mars.
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NASA will deploy the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule to the launch pad in just two weeks as it plans August 29 to launch its Artemis I mission
“We go to Mars and we go back to the Moon, to work, to live and to survive,” Nelson said.
‘[We’re going to] learn how to use resources on the moon so you can build things in the future.
Artemis I will be unmanned and will instead carry three mannequins dressed in flight suits.
And one of them was then called Commander Moonikin Campos when he was the most popular in a public poll.
Artemis I will be unmanned and will instead carry three mannequins dressed in flight suits
And one of them was then called Commander Moonikin Campos when he was the most popular in a public poll.
The dummies will help NASA get data on what crew members would experience in flight.
The mission will also allow NASA to see how resistant the spacecraft’s heat shield is to real-world elements, as the technology has only been tested in an Earth simulation.
“We’re actually going to push this test flight, stress it more than we would with a crew on board,” Nelson said.
“We didn’t have that luxury on the space shuttle, because you had to have a crew on board, but she had already tested a number of things, like those silicone tiles on the space shuttle.
“It’s an ablative heat shield and the only way to test it is to pull it out and let it in at 32 Mach.”
“Everything has to work perfectly,” Sarafin said. “We are going to fly in deep space, in a high radiation environment. We will see what it is like to fly our astronauts on subsequent missions under these conditions.
are able to safely carry the first woman and person of color to the moon in 2025, which is a stepping stone to putting the first humans on Mars
Another briefing will take place on Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET, which will focus on Artemis I mission hardware, development mockups, design simulators, flight control operations and hardware in development for lunar exploration. .
NASA also announced on Wednesday that it plans to send Apollo 11 relics for the journey to the moon, including a bolt, nut and washer from one of their ship’s engines, as well as a small moon rock that was collected by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. .
NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the moon in 2025 as part of the Artemis mission
Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister and moon goddess in Greek mythology.
NASA has chosen her to personify its journey back to the moon, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface by 2025 – including the first woman and the next man.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Artemis 1 will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed flight that will provide a foundation for human exploration of deep space and demonstrate our commitment and ability to extend human existence to the moon and beyond.
During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown.
It will travel 280,000 miles (450,600 km) from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon during a mission lasting about three weeks.
Artemis 1, formerly Exploration Mission-1, is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration of the Moon and Mars. This graphic explains the different stages of the mission
Orion will stay in space longer than any astronaut ship without docking with a space station and will return home faster and warmer than ever.
With this first exploration mission, NASA is leading the next steps in human deep space exploration where astronauts will build and begin testing near-moon systems needed for lunar surface missions and exploration. to other destinations farther from Earth, including Mars.
They will take the crew on a different trajectory and test Orion’s critical systems with humans on board.
Together, Orion, SLS and Kennedy’s ground systems will be able to meet the most challenging requirements of deep space crew and cargo missions.
Eventually, NASA is looking to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon by 2028 as a result of the Artemis mission.
The space agency hopes this colony will discover new scientific discoveries, demonstrate new technological advances, and lay the groundwork for private companies to build a lunar economy.