Lakiesha Hawkins, one of NASA’s deputy administratorshe said in a press conference that there is a significant moment approaching human exploration of space and moon: “Together we have a place in the first row of history. On February 5, the Artemis program launch window opens, but we want to emphasize that security is our highest priority.‘
Artemis Program Manager, Charlie Blackwell-Thompsonexplained that the powerful missile system Space Launch System (SLS)which will carry astronauts to the Moon, is “almost assembled and ready”.
Only the completion of the crew capsules, called Orionwhich will be connected to the SLS, as well as the completion of the ground tests.
The first ARTEMIS mission lasted 25 days and included launching an unmanned boat in November 2022. The boat traveled around the Moon and reinstated to the Earth’s atmosphere.
The mission was crowned with great success, although there were problems with the thermal shield during reassessment, which have now been addressed.
The launch of Artemis II will see four astronauts making a ten -day trip around the Moon and back to Earth. NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Service, will not land on the Moon, but will be the first to travel beyond the low earth’s orbit from Apollo 17 in 1972.
Artemis II’s head director Jeff Radigan explained that the crew would travel farther in space than anyone before.
“There will be at least 5,000 nautical miles (9,200 km) beyond the Moon, much higher than previous missions,” he told reporters.
The purpose of the mission is to test the rocket and boat systems to lay the foundations for a manned recruitment.
Astronauts will enter the Orion capsule, which will be their home throughout the journey, placed on top of the SLS.
Initially the system will be moved to orbit around the Earth with the help of two powerful solid fuel amplifiers, which will be detached two minutes after launch.
Eight minutes after the launch, the huge central rocket will be separated from the second stage (Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System – ICPS) and the Orion capsule. Orion’s solar panels will open and start charging the boat’s batteries.
Ninety minutes later, the ICPS will activate its engines to lift the boat to a higher orbit. There will be 25 hours of complete control of systems.
If all works properly, the orion will be disconnected from ICPS and executed a form of “space ballet”, also known as a demonstration of proximity operations.
Astronauts will manually handle Orion’s promoters, approaching and moving away from ICPS, to simulate connection processes to a future lunar vehicle.
Twenty -three hours later, the boat will carry out the “Translunar Injection – TLI), sending it on a four -day journey that will carry astronauts over 370,000 kilometers from Earth.
During the trip, systems will continue.
In a way, astronauts will act as human “experimental animals”.
Experiments will measure how their body is affected by space. Scientists will cultivate tissues of tissue from the blood of astronauts (the so -called organoids) before and after the journey.
The two groups of samples will be compared to see how the human body affects space, according to Dr. Nicky Fox, Head of NASA Scientific Research.
“You may be wondering why we do this since we have astronauts themselves,” he told the BBC News.
“We want to study in depth the impact of microtivity and radiation on these samples. Of course I am not going to “get” an astronaut! But I can examine these little organoids and see the differences. “
After passing around the Moon, astronauts will begin their four -day return trip, with the help of the gravity of the Earth.
Upon arrival, the service of monuly (with the main propulsion system) will be separated from the crew capsule. Astronauts will enter a dangerous stage of the mission: the reassessment to the Earth’s atmosphere before they reached the coast of California.
The success of the mission will determine when NASA will be able to launch the Artemis III mission, which will be aimed at actual care. Even though everything goes perfectly, NASA’s official goal of “not earlier than mid -2027” is considered unrealistic, according to Dr. Simeon Barber of Open University.
“‘No Earlier’ is a familiar language of NASA and it means exactly that: the earliest possible date,” he said, adding that he considers the goal optimistic because of the high cost to keep Artemis III on a timetable.
‘The hired will require its Starship [εταιρείας] Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for the transport of astronauts to the surface and back. However, as we have seen in recent months, Starship still has a long way to go before it can even make an orbital flight around the Earth, let alone carry astronauts. “
Lakiesha Hawkins, one of NASA’s deputy administrators, said it would be an important moment in human exploration of space.
“We all have a place in the first row of history,” he said in a press conference in the afternoon.
“The launch window can be opened on February 5, but we want to emphasize that security is our highest priority.”
Artemis’s launch manager Charlie Blackwell-Thompson explained that the powerful space launch system (SLS) missile system, which will carry astronauts to the Moon, is “almost assembled and ready”.
Only the completion of the crew capsule, called Orion, which will be connected to the SLS, as well as the completion of the ground tests, is left.
The first ARTEMIS mission lasted 25 days and included launching an unmanned boat in November 2022. The boat traveled around the Moon and reinstated to the Earth’s atmosphere.
The mission was crowned with great success, although there were problems with the thermal shield during reassessment, which have now been addressed.
The launch of Artemis II will see four astronauts making a ten -day trip around the Moon and back to Earth. NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Service, will not land on the Moon, but will be the first to travel beyond the low earth’s orbit from Apollo 17 in 1972.
Artemis II’s head director Jeff Radigan explained that the crew would travel farther in space than anyone before.
“There will be at least 5,000 nautical miles (9,200 km) beyond the Moon, much higher than previous missions,” he told reporters.
The purpose of the mission is to test the rocket and boat systems to lay the foundations for a manned recruitment.
Astronauts will enter the Orion capsule, which will be their home throughout the journey, placed on top of the SLS.
Initially the system will be moved to orbit around the Earth with the help of two powerful solid fuel amplifiers, which will be detached two minutes after launch.
Eight minutes after the launch, the huge central rocket will be separated from the second stage (Interim Cryogenic Propulsion System – ICPS) and the Orion capsule. Orion’s solar panels will open and start charging the boat’s batteries.
Ninety minutes later, the ICPS will activate its engines to lift the boat to a higher orbit. There will be 25 hours of complete control of systems.
If all works properly, the orion will be disconnected from ICPS and executed a form of “space ballet”, also known as a demonstration of proximity operations.
Astronauts will manually handle Orion’s promoters, approaching and moving away from ICPS, to simulate connection processes to a future lunar vehicle.
Twenty -three hours later, the boat will carry out the “Translunar Injection – TLI), sending it on a four -day journey that will carry astronauts over 370,000 kilometers from Earth.
During the trip, systems will continue.
In a way, astronauts will act as human “experimental animals”.
Experiments will measure how their body is affected by space. Scientists will cultivate tissues of tissue from the blood of astronauts (the so -called organoids) before and after the journey.
The two groups of samples will be compared to see how the human body affects space, according to Dr. Nicky Fox, Head of NASA Scientific Research.
“You may be wondering why we do this since we have astronauts themselves,” he told the BBC News.
“We want to study in depth the impact of microtivity and radiation on these samples. Of course I am not going to “get” an astronaut! But I can examine these little organoids and see the differences. “
After passing around the Moon, astronauts will begin their four -day return trip, with the help of the gravity of the Earth.
Upon arrival, the service of monuly (with the main propulsion system) will be separated from the crew capsule. Astronauts will enter a dangerous stage of the mission: the reassessment to the Earth’s atmosphere before they reached the coast of California.
The success of the mission will determine when NASA will be able to launch the Artemis III mission, which will be aimed at actual care. Even though everything goes perfectly, NASA’s official goal of “not earlier than mid -2027” is considered unrealistic, according to Dr. Simeon Barber of Open University.
“‘No Earlier’ is a familiar language of NASA and it means exactly that: the earliest possible date,” he said, adding that he considers the goal optimistic because of the high cost to keep Artemis III on a timetable.
‘The hired will require its Starship [εταιρείας] Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for the transport of astronauts to the surface and back. However, as we have seen in recent months, Starship still has a long way to go before it can even make an orbital flight around the Earth, let alone carry astronauts. “
Source :Skai
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