NASA’s massive rocket, called the Space Launch System (SLS), is set to blast off Monday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida. On top of the rocket is Orion, the spacecraft that will eventually carry astronauts to the moon. This mission — called Artemis I — is a critical test of several things: how the SLS performs; How Orion works. and how its heat shield holds up during re-entry after traveling to the moon and entering at extremely high speeds. There are also several tests on board, including radiation experiments on three mannequins. High doses of space radiation can be fatal to humans. All of this is to pave the way for Artemis II — scheduled for 2024 or 2025 — when four astronauts, including a Canadian, will orbit the moon. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is on launch pad 39B ready to blast off to the moon. (Turgut Yeter/CBC) The rocket is scheduled to launch no earlier than 8:33 am. ET on Monday morning, with a two-hour launch window. During a mission briefing on Saturday, Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, said, “Snap everybody. We’re going to the moon.” Mike Sarafin, mission manager for Artemis, said the sentiment around Kennedy Space Center has become increasingly energetic. “As we approach our zero hour for the Artemis generation, we have a heightened sense of anticipation and there is certainly excitement among team members,” he said. “We’ve noticed that the overall mood and focus within the team is definitely positive.” This is a mission that has been in progress for more than a decade. Former US President Barack Obama announced the SLS rocket in 2010, aiming to fly in 2016. Dates for the SLS – as well as cost overruns – have plagued the giant rocket for years. However, this is not the first ride for the Orion capsule. It was launched on a Delta IV Heavy rocket in December 2014 into Earth orbit, blasting off just over four hours later. The Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, December 5, 2014. (Steve Nesius/Reuters) But this will be a completely different journey for the capsule. When Orion returned for its test, called EFT-1, it re-entered the atmosphere at about 32,000 km/h. This time, after its 42-day mission, the capsule will be pushed to its limits, entering at a speed of 40,000 km/h, reaching temperatures of up to 2,800 C.
Long term exploration
Everyone on the team knows that Artemis A is a test: that things can go wrong, but that they will learn from it. “We’re mindful that this is a test flight. And we’re mindful that this is a deliberate endurance test of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket. It’s a new creation. It’s a new rocket and it’s a new spacecraft to send people to moon on the next flight,” Sarafin said. “This is something that hasn’t been done in over 50 years and it’s incredibly difficult.” Following Artemis II is Artemis III, which will put boots on the ground and, as NASA likes to point out, put the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. The Artemis program is a long-term goal of sending humans back to the moon and beyond. NASA has Mars firmly in its sights. But they don’t plan to do it alone. Unlike the Apollo missions, this is an international effort. The European Space Agency has provided a services module for the Artemis program, and Canada is providing Canadarm 3 to the Lunar Gateway, a space station that will orbit the moon and serve as an outpost, a sort of jump-off point for astronauts traveling to the moon or mars. “There’s a big, big universe to explore. And this is just the next step in that exploration. And this time we’re going with our international partners,” a NASA administrator said in a briefing Saturday. “It is no longer the generation of Apollo. It is the generation of Artemis.”
NASA’s Artemis program sets its sights on the moon and then Mars
NASA says the goal for the Artemis program is to one day land on Mars. But first, the space agency needs Artemis missions to land on the moon again.
