See NASA’s plans for the upcoming Artemis missions – 12/16/2022 – Science

a The Artemis 1 mission test flight has endedBut Artemis 2 — which will be the first with astronauts on board — won’t happen until at least 2024.

In a recent interview, Bill Nelson, Director NASAcomplained about the long wait between Artemis 1 and Artemis 2.

“I made the biggest noise because of this,” he said. “If this first mission succeeds, achieves its goals, and is safe for the astronauts, why can’t we do the next mission in less than two years?”

Nelson said that years ago, in order to save money, NASA decided to reuse some of the electronic equipment, known as avionics, from Artemis 1’s Orion capsule in Artemis 2’s new Orion capsule.

“It takes two years to strip the avionics and put it back,” said Nelson. “This is very frustrating to me, but it is what it is.”

There will be four astronauts aboard Artemis 2🇧🇷 Three will be from NASA and one will be Canadian, as provided for in the part of the agreement that defines CSA’s participation in the Artemis program. NASA has not yet announced the names of the astronauts who will fly on the mission.

The path of Artemis 2 will be very simple. After launch, the second stage of the Orion Space Launch System will launch into an elliptical orbit extending up to 2,800 kilometers above Earth, giving astronauts time to check the operation of Orion systems.

Then, when Orion returns to its orbital starting point, its engine will fire at it Launch it towards the moon🇧🇷 On the Artemis 2 mission, the Orion spacecraft will not enter lunar orbit; Instead, it will use the moon’s gravity to return to Earth, and is expected to land in the Pacific Ocean. The whole trip should take about ten days.

The big event will be Artemis 3, currently scheduled for no later than 2025.

During the landings on the moon a program Apollo In the 1960s and 1970s, the lunar module was placed on the Saturn 5 rocket. The Artemis 3 lunar module would be a copy of the Starship rocket built by SpaceX🇧🇷 The lunar spacecraft will be launched separately. Additional Starships will then be launched to replenish the Lunar Starship’s fuel (rocket fuel) tanks before it leaves Earth’s orbit.

On the Moon, the spacecraft module will enter something known as a Nearly Straight Halo Orbit, or NRHO.

Halo orbits are affected by the gravity of two bodies — in this case, the Earth and the Moon — which helps make the orbit very stable, reducing the amount of fuel needed to keep the spacecraft in lunar orbit. A spacecraft in this orbit never passes behind the Moon, as communications with Earth are severed.

Once the spacecraft orbits the moon, the Space Launch System rocket will send four astronauts in the Orion capsule into roughly the same straight halo orbit. Orion will dock with the Starship. Two of the astronauts will transfer to the Starship rocket, landing somewhere near the south pole of the Moon, while the other two will remain in orbit on Orion.

After a week or so on the lunar surface, the two astronauts aboard the spacecraft will depart and rendezvous with Orion in orbit. Then Orion will return the four astronauts to Earth.

In August, NASA announced 13 possible landing sites near the moon’s south pole.

The astronauts aboard Artemis 4 will fly to Gateway, a space station-like outpost that NASA will build in the roughly same straight halo orbit used on Artemis 3. This mission will use a Space Launch System rocket with an updated second stage, giving it enough power to power a habitat module. gate with it.

NASA’s original plan was for Artemis 4 to take over construction of the Gateway. But this year the US space agency decided that the mission would also include a trip to the lunar surface. Last month, NASA announced that SpaceX would supply the Artemis 4 lander.

In the case of Artemis 5 and subsequent missions, the lunar module will be docked to the portal. The astronauts will arrive at Gateway on Orion and then transfer to the Lunar Module for the trip to the lunar surface.

NASA is considering bids from a different company to supply the Artemis 5 lander. blue Origina rocket company he founded Jeff Bezosfounder of Amazon.

NASA will then bid for future lunar landers, as will companies hired to deliver cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

Translated by Clara Allen