Next year, NASA will send astronauts back to the moon. This is their journey into the 21st century.
The European Space Agency – which helped build the Orion spacecraft that can carry four passengers – has just released an image of the tall vehicle before it was transferred to a test chamber and exposed to extreme space-like conditions.
“At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, the Orion spacecraft that will be used for Artemis 2 is preparing for the first manned mission to the moon and back in more than 50 years,” ESA wrote.
The United States is exploring a railway to the moon. There’s a good reason for this.
The upcoming Artemis 2 mission will launch astronauts into space aboard NASA’s towering Space Launch System rocket (SLS), which is more powerful than the Saturn V rocket that first launched astronauts to the moon. They will orbit the moon but not land on it, then burn engines to return to Earth and plummet 5,000 degrees through the atmosphere. If the mission is successful, it will pave the way for Artemis 3 to land on the lunar surface in September 2026. They will stay for about a week.
The Orion spacecraft below consists of four sections stacked on top of each other:
– Crew Module: At the top is the crew module, where astronauts will live during spaceflight.
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– Crew Module Adapter: This section connects the crew module to the critical component below, the European Service Module.
– Service module: ESA calls it “Orion’s powerhouse.” It provides electrical power, propulsion, thermal control, air and water, the agency explained.
– Spacecraft Adapter: At the bottom, this cone-shaped section connects Orion to the powerful SLS rocket.
Stacked Orion spacecraft. At the bottom is the engineer for size reference.
Image credit: NASA/A. Stevenson
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NASA had previously expected Artemis II to launch later in 2024, but postponed the flight to September 2025 to resolve some issues. With lives on board, the agency is well aware of how a flight accident can lead to tragedy, and prioritizes safety over expediency.
“Astronaut safety is and will remain our top priority,” Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s associate administrator for exploration systems development, said in an agency statement earlier this year. “
Of particular concern was the accidental damage to the Orion heat shield during the unmanned flight of Artemis 1. During the thermal descent through the Earth’s atmosphere, some small fragments of the shield broke away, contrary to normal erosion caused by intense friction and heat. “The team took a systematic approach to understanding the problem, including extensive sampling of the heat shield, testing and review of data from sensors and imagery,” NASA explained.
As Orion begins flying on the upcoming Artemis mission, NASA’s goals are very different from those of the legendary Apollo missions more than 50 years ago. This time, NASA will establish a permanent presence on and around the moon. For the first time, astronauts will venture into the moon’s south pole, which scientists believe is rich in water ice – a vital resource for fuel and water for any lunar colony.