Attempt No. 3 for Artemis 1, with the promise of a new space age
- November 16, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
No Comments
Attempt No. 3 for Artemis 1, with the promise of a new space age
Subject: Science and Technology
In news-
- At 1.04 am Eastern time in the United States on Wednesday (11.34 am in India), a two-hour window will open for NASA to make a third attempt to send its new 322-foot-tall, multi-billion-dollar rocket known as the Space Launch System (SLS), to the Moon.
Details-
- The debut flight of the rocket was scrubbed twice earlier, on August 29 and September 3, after technical issues were detected during the countdown.
- This mission, known as Artemis 1, is unmanned and is intended to test the rocket and the Orion space capsule, in which astronauts will ride on future missions.
- If Wednesday’s launch takes place, Orion will spend a couple of weeks in lunar orbit before returning for a Pacific Ocean splashdown next month.
What is Artemis-1 mission-
- NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration and is named after the twin sister of Apollo from Greek mythology.
- Artemis is also the goddess of the moon.
- It is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars.
- With the Artemis programme, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024, and it also plans to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
- NASA will establish an Artemis Base Camp on the surface and a gateway (the lunar outpost around the Moon) in lunar orbit to aid exploration by robots and astronauts.
- The gateway is a critical component of NASA’s sustainable lunar operations and will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the moon.
Other space agencies are also involved in the Artemis programme.
- Canadian Space Agency has committed to providing advanced robotics for the gateway,
- The European Space Agency will provide the International Habitat and the ESPRIT module, which will deliver additional communications capabilities among other things.
- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to contribute habitation components and logistics resupply.
What are the Key Points of Artemis I Mission?
- Artemis I, formerly Exploration Mission-1, will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Deep Space Exploration Systems:
- Orion spacecraft: Orion spacecraft is going to remain in space without docking to a space station, longer than any ship for astronauts has ever done before.
- Space Launch System (SLS) rocket: It is the most powerful rocket in the world — and travels 2,80,000 miles from the earth for over four to six weeks during the course of the mission.
- Newly upgraded Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- It is an uncrewed space mission where the spacecraft will launch on an SLS rocket.
- The primary operating goal of the mission is to assure a safe crew module entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery.
- SLS and Orion under Artemis I will be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, U.S.
- The mission will end with the Orion spacecraft’s ability to return safely to the earth.
Why Artemis 1 matters-
- Under this mission, human beings will go back to the moon, explore the possibilities of long lunar stays, and assess the potential of the moon as a launch pad for exploration into deep space.
- Currently, Artemis-1 is only a lunar Orbiter mission which has a return-to-earth target.
- The CubeSats it will carry are equipped with instruments meant for specific investigations and experiments, including searching for water in all forms and for hydrogen that can be utilised as a source of energy.
- Biology experiments will be carried out, and the impact of deep space atmosphere on humans will be investigated through the effect on dummy ‘passengers’ on board Orion.
- The SLS rocket, the most powerful ever built, will also be on test for its potential for more ambitious missions in the future.
History of moon exploration-
- In 1959, the Soviet Union’s uncrewed Luna 1 and 2 became the first rover to visit the Moon.
- The US began trying to put people in space as early as 1961.
- Eight years later, on 20th July, 1969, Neil Armstrong along with Edwin “Buzz”Aldrin became the first human to step on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission.
- Before the USA sent the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, it sent three classes of robotic missions between 1961 and 1968.
- After July 1969, 12 American astronauts walked on the surface of the Moon until 1972.
- In the 1990s, the USA resumed lunar exploration with robotic missions Clementineand Lunar Prospector.
- In 2009, it began a new series of robotic lunar missions with the launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS).
- In 2011, NASA began the ARTEMIS.
- In 2012, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft studied the Moon’s gravity.
- Apart from the USA, the European Space Agency, Japan, China, and India have sent missions to explore the Moon.
China landed two rovers on the surface, which includes the first-ever landing on the Moon’s far side in 2019.