Artemis 1 is Launching in February – Universe Today
[ad_1]
It’s been a long time coming, but NASA’s next moon rocket is just months from liftoff on its first uncrewed test flight. The Space Launch System (SLS) is a super heavy-lift vehicle capable of delivering 95 tons to Low Earth Orbit, but its primary purpose will be to deliver humans to lunar orbit and, eventually, to the lunar surface. SLS has been in development since 2011, and it’s faced a series of delays, but launch day is finally within sight. Earlier this month, the rocket was fully stacked for the first time in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center, and the Orion capsule (the spacecraft’s crew cabin) was attached to the top. The full stack stands an impressive 322 feet tall, just shy of the Saturn V’s 363 feet.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (a former astronaut himself) told reporters that “with stacking and integration of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft complete, we’re getting closer and closer to embarking on a new era of human deep space exploration…Thanks to the team’s hard work designing, manufacturing, testing, and now completing assembly of NASA’s new rocket and spacecraft, we’re in the home stretch of preparations for the first launch on the Artemis I mission, paving the way to explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond for many years to come.”
With stacking complete, the next major task will be to roll the rocket out to the pad, where a full wet dress rehearsal will take place. The wet rehearsal involves loading propellant into the vehicle and performing a countdown, testing every aspect of the mission just shy of actually blasting off. The exact date for liftoff of Artemis 1 will be determined after the wet dress rehearsal ensures everything is in good working order.
Artemis 1 will spend over three weeks in space. While in orbit around the Moon, it will test out systems and perform experiments, including the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), which will try out new technologies designed to protect human tissue from the dangerous radiation outside Earth’s protective magnetosphere.
The mission will also carry 10 Cubesat with varying science and engineering goals. Some of the more interesting include Lunar IceCube, which will look for ice on the Moon with an infrared spectrometer, and NEA Scout, which will deploy a solar sail and navigate to a small nearby asteroid. A Japanese Cubesat called OMOTENASHI will impact the moon with a solid rocket booster, while ArgoMoon will maneuver around the SLS upper stage, taking high resolution images.
The February launch will be the first test of a rocket designed to carry humans to the moon since the days of Apollo (unless you count the canceled Constellation program, which tested its Ares 1 rocket back in 2009).
If Artemis 1 is successful, the next flight of SLS will be the real deal, with astronauts on board. Artemis 2 will carry four people and has a tentative launch date of September 2023. Artemis 3 will follow, carry humans to the lunar surface itself. Artemis 3 currently has a 2024 launch date, but this is expected to slip. Future missions will construct a space station (the Lunar Gateway) in the vicinity of the Moon, and perform longer duration visits to the lunar South Pole, with the intended goal of building a more permanent presence on and around our nearest celestial neighbor. The Artemis Program will test various in-situ resource utilization techniques with the ultimate goal of learning how to operate in deep space for long durations, which will be necessary for an eventual human mission to Mars.
Featured Image: Graphic showing the mission plan for Artemis 1. NASA.
[ad_2]
Original Post
I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.
whoah this blog is fantastic i love reading your posts. Keep up the good work! You know, lots of people are looking around for this information, you can help them greatly.
Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue with your site in web explorer, would check thisK IE still is the marketplace leader and a big component to other folks will leave out your wonderful writing due to this problem.
I believe this website contains very good indited subject matter blog posts.
Have you ever thought about creating an e-book or guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog centered on the same subjects you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my audience would appreciate your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.
Thank you for another wonderful post. Where else could anybody get that kind of info in such an ideal way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such info.
I’ve been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thank you, I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your website?
Hey this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding skills so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
You made some nice points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will consent with your site.
I have been examinating out some of your stories and i can claim nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.
I genuinely enjoy looking through on this site, it holds great content.
That is the right weblog for anyone who wants to seek out out about this topic. You notice a lot its almost laborious to argue with you (not that I truly would need…HaHa). You positively put a brand new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!
It’s really a great and helpful piece of info. I am glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
Good write-up, I am regular visitor of one?¦s blog, maintain up the nice operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thanks , I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your web site?
Perfectly written content material, appreciate it for entropy.
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is great, as well as the content!
Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the internet the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I certainly get irked while people think about worries that they just do not know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
he blog was how do i say it… relevant, finally something that helped me. Thanks
Some really nice and utilitarian information on this web site, likewise I believe the layout has got excellent features.
Some truly wonderful blog posts on this internet site, appreciate it for contribution.
I have been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this kind of house . Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i¦m satisfied to convey that I’ve an incredibly good uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed. I so much unquestionably will make sure to don¦t fail to remember this website and give it a look regularly.
Hiya! I just wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice info you’ve got here on this post. I will be coming back to your weblog for extra soon.
I would like to convey my admiration for your generosity giving support to men and women who need help on this particular idea. Your real commitment to passing the message up and down turned out to be certainly interesting and have in every case enabled guys like me to attain their goals. This valuable instruction implies a lot to me and far more to my peers. Regards; from all of us.
Exactly what I was looking for, thanks for putting up.
I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thanks , I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your site?
I like this web site because so much utile material on here : D.
I have learn some excellent stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much attempt you put to create this type of great informative site.
Howdy! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this post to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
Attractive portion of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to claim that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing on your augment and even I fulfillment you get entry to persistently fast.
Some truly interesting info , well written and broadly speaking user pleasant.
Very interesting points you have mentioned, thankyou for putting up.
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your site. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create your theme? Excellent work!