Artist’s rendering of an SLS launch. Image: NASA
NASA’s most powerful rocket is almost ready to send an unmanned Orion capsule on a 42-day trip to the moon and back, but that deceptively simple plan involves a lot of moving parts, including a harrowing 5,000-degree re-entry to through the earth’s atmosphere. Here’s what you can expect from this historic mission, named Artemis 1, as NASA officially ushers in the Artemis era.
When will NASA’s SLS launch?
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is scheduled to depart the Vehicle Assembly Building at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on August 18 to begin its short trek to Launch Complex 39B. If all goes according to plan, SLS, along with an uncrewed Orion capsule perched atop, will launch on Aug. 29 during a two-hour window beginning at 8:33 a.m. ET. There are also backup windows for September 2nd and 5th.
NASA | Exploration Mission-1: Further Advancement in Deep Space
The inaugural launch will send the $20.4 billion Orion on a 42-day journey to the Moon and back, on a mission that will require the capsule to travel a total distance of 1.3 million miles (2.1 million of kilometers). Orion will enter a lunar orbit and spend a few weeks before returning home. A splash in the Pacific Ocean is expected on October 10, assuming Orion survives re-entry. Its heat shield will have to withstand temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) as Orion is expected to enter the atmosphere at speeds of up to 40,000 kilometers per hour (25,000 miles per hour).
What is the purpose of the Artemis 1 mission?
Artemis 1 is a test mission. It will be the first integrated test of SLS and Orion, the latter of which was sent into space on a test mission in 2014. As for SLS, this will be its first launch.
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“This is a mission that will truly do what has not been done and learn what is not known,” Mike Sarafin, NASA’s Artemis 1 mission manager, said in a statement. “It will open a path that people will follow on the next Orion flyby, pushing the edges of the envelope to prepare for this mission.”
Sarafin refers to Artemis 2, in which a manned Orion capsule will attempt the same mission. Both Artemis 1 and 2 are precursor missions to the real deal, Artemis 3, in which NASA will attempt to land a man and a woman on the lunar surface. Artemis 2 is currently scheduled for late 2024, while Artemis 3 could happen the following year. The Artemis program as a whole is NASA’s effort to return humans to the lunar environment, but unlike Apollo, these missions are designed to keep us there. To that end, NASA and its international partners plan to build a lunar space station, called Gateway, to support activities both on and around the Moon.
Related: What you need to know about Lunar Gateway, NASA’s future space station in lunar orbit.
Artemis seeks a sustainable and permanent return to the Moon, but it’s actually about something much bigger. “Our sights are not set on the moon,” Reid Wiseman, NASA Johnson’s chief astronaut, told reporters at an Aug. 5 briefing. “Our sights are clearly set on Mars.” In fact, the technologies and experiences gained during Artemis will prepare NASA and its partners for manned excursions to the Red Planet, which could happen in the late 2030s or early 2040s. For all this to happen, however, NASA needs Artemis 1 to succeed.
What is the role of SLS in Artemis 1?
A core technology for the Artemis program is the $23.8 billion Space Launch System, which NASA Administrator Bill Nelson described as “the only rocket that can get humans to the Moon.” With 8.8 million pounds of thrust, it is the most powerful rocket ever built. The Super Heavy Launch Vehicle will be more powerful than the Apollo-era Saturn V (7.5 million pounds of thrust), the system that launched the Space Shuttle (7.8 million pounds of thrust ) and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy (5 million pounds of thrust). push). SpaceX’s next spacecraft, however, will blow it out of the water with 17 million pounds of thrust on first launch. For Artemis 1, SLS’s job will be to deliver Orion into Earth orbit, from where the capsule can begin its journey to the Moon.
SLS at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo: NASA
At launch, the 322-foot-tall (98-meter) rocket will weigh nearly 6 million pounds. For Artemis 1, NASA will use the Block 1 variant of SLS, which includes the center stage (equipped with four hydrogen-fueled RS-25D engines), a pair of five-segment solid rocket boosters attached to the side, and the capsule Orion. at the top The Block 1 crew configuration will be capable of lifting more than 27 tons into space. A key moment in the launch will occur at the 90-second mark, when SLS reaches maximum q, the point during launch when the rockets are exposed to the greatest aerodynamic stress.
The 177-foot-tall (54-meter) side thrusters will fire for nearly three minutes, John Honeycutt, program manager for the Space Launch System at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, explained during the news conference on 3 august The thrusters will then eject from the center stage, fall into the Atlantic and sink to the ocean floor. NASA will make no attempt to recover the boosters. The main stage will stop approximately eight minutes after launch, but not before leaving the service module panels and the launch abort system. The Orion crew capsule will separate from the rocket while still attached to the cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) that will power the capsule to the Moon.
What happens when Orion reaches the Moon?
After Orion completes a full orbit of Earth and deploys its solar arrays, ICPS will assist with a perigee lift maneuver followed by a 20-minute translunar injection, sending Orion on a trajectory that will allow it to be captured by the gravity of the Moon. Orion will separate from ICPS approximately two hours after launch, after which ICPS will deploy 10 cubesats that are also headed for the Moon.
Artist’s rendering of Orion’s ICPS performing an engine burn to place it on a lunar trajectory. Image: NASA
Orion, now on its own, will get its power from a service module provided by the European Space Agency. The trip to the Moon will last about four days, during which Earth teams will carefully monitor the capsule’s performance. Once at its destination, the service module will perform a critical lunar gravity assist maneuver, allowing the craft to enter a distant retrograde orbit. Orion’s closest approach will bring the spacecraft within about 60 miles (97 km) of the lunar surface. We’ll get some incredible images of the Moon during this close flyby, in what will likely be one of the highlights of the mission.
Parked in this elongated retrograde orbit, the capsule will travel about 40,000 miles (64,000 km) beyond the Moon, a distance that is “30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) farther than the previous record set during Apollo 13 and furthest into space for any spacecraft built. humans have flown,” according to NASA.
Map of the Artemis 1 mission. Graphic: NASA
Orion will sail behind the Moon, during which time communication with ground controllers will be temporarily lost (this will happen every time Orion ventures behind the Moon, as its orbit is in the same plane as Earth and the Moon).
Will there be anything inside Orion?
Artemis 1 does not involve a human crew, but Orion will not be empty. Inside will be three mannequins, named Campos, Helga and Zohar. Together, these fake crew members will demonstrate what real astronauts will have to endure during similar missions.
The Campos dummy will be placed inside Orion on August 3, 2022. Photo: NASA
NASA’s Campos will wear a standard Orion spacesuit and measure vibrations, forces and radiation throughout the 42-day journey. On the subject of radiation, and unlike the International Space Station, Orion will travel beyond the protective boundary of the Van Allen belts: conglomerations of high-energy particles located between the Earth and the Moon. The Moonikin will be tied to a new energy damping system known as the Crew Impact Attenuation System.
Diagram showing the seating configuration of the three mannequins, with Campos on top, Helga on the bottom left, and Zohar, in the radiation vest, on the right. Graphic: ESA/Lockheed Martin
Helga and Zohar, analogues of adult women, will participate in the MARE experiment designed by the German Aerospace Center. Zohar will wear an AstroRad radiation vest designed by Lockheed Martin and Israeli startup StemRad, while his companion, Helga, will not wear the vest and will serve as a control.
Women are more vulnerable to the risks posed by space radiation, leading to the mannequin experiments, as Bhavya Lal, NASA’s associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy, explained during the Aug. 3 press conference. In deep space, humans will be exposed to more energetic particles, including those from solar flares from the Sun and from outside the galaxy. Radiation presents “a superior environmental challenge beyond” low-Earth orbit, Lal said, hence the importance of the trio of dummies.
As for the other passengers, Shaun the Sheep will also be coming along for the ride. NASA is also sending an iPad to the moon in an experiment to test Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant during the mission.
Does Artemis 1 include other payloads?
Yes. As already mentioned, the Orion stage adapter will release 10 cubesats shortly after launch. Each satellite will head into lunar orbit on its own, where it will carry out various science and technology missions.
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