(Image Courtesy: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/artemis-i-map)
Humans have been exploring the Universe from an early age. Astronomy originated from the time of Assyro-Babylonians around 1000 BC. From this time mankind has been staring at the sky filled with wonders admiring the celestial bodies. They were amazed by the majestic sun and believed to be riding on the chariot across the sky. The moon is seen next to the god. The eclipses were greeted by grief and myths. We believed in the geocentric earth model for many centuries unless it was the time for Copernicus and Galileo to prove it wrong. To date, astronomy and the model of the Universe have been developed from hypothesis to actual visual reality. From birth, we humans have been eager to discover and analyze natural phenomena happening around us. There have been revolutions in art, politics and science and conflicts like wars and pandemics.
This time, it was the war that silently
brought many ground breaking milestones to the field of Astronomy. By 1945, as
the second world war ended, USA and Russia began what so-called “Cold War.” In
this, the giants competed for the space era and the space race began. It is
that time the USA started the “Apollo Program,” which took the man to the moon.
Till that nothing is more remarkable than Neil Armstrong saying, “One step from
man, one giant leap for mankind.” Till now the moon is the farthest celestial
body that humans have set foot onto. Successive Launches were made from 1961
till they retired in 1972 after Apollo 17 mission.
Now, you may ask what the deal is. Well, nothing is more special than the launch itself. But one thing is we are going back to the moon. NASA despite the budget constraints and political complexities hasn’t stopped us from achieving the dream of sending and stationing humans again on the surface of the moon. Unlike the Saturn V rocket, the new rocket is called Space Launch System (SLS) which carries the Orion capsule on board. Non-crewed mission Artemis 1 was first scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on August 29, but a problem with one of the engines kept the spacecraft grounded. Then, a fuel leak scrapped another launch attempt on September 3. Finally, it blasted from launch complex 39B, Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on 16th November 2022. At present, it is on the mission of achieving these 25 days mission and finally splashing down on 14th December 2022. The interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) completed its approximately 18-minute trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn, and the spacecraft got separated from the stage. Orion fired its auxiliary thrusters to move a safe distance away from the expended stage and the spacecraft is on its way to the Moon before deploying 10 CubeSats for various scientific experiments. Some of the important NASA CubeSats are:
- Biosentinel: To study the effect of complex radiation environment on biological life. It contains Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding or brewer’s yeast) whose DNA mutation can be tested with respect to the radiation exposed by instrument called dosimeter. It is sent in a heliocentric orbit. This will help in understanding the effect of radiation on humans for prolonged space flight in future.
- Lunar Flashlight: Lunar Flashlight’s mission is to look for surface frost/water ice in the permanently shadowed regions near the south pole of the Moon. Measurements from LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) and other missions strongly indicate the presence of water ice on or near the surface in the PSRs, however, to date water has not been directly detected at the Moon but inferred only from the detection of hydroxyls (OH) on SP. As the conclusions can result also from other volatile compounds and regolith, it has a Laser spectrometer which can differentiate them from the spectra.
- NEA Scout: Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout will navigate to a representative NEA target and perform in situ observations to retire key strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs) for human exploration and scientific understanding of the Near-Earth Orbit population. This will help to reduce the threat of asteroids that may end evolution on earth.
AIMS of Artemis Mission
The main aim of Artemis is to re-establish the presence of humans on Moon and demonstrate technological capabilities like the infrastructures, equipment designs, and rockets to colonize Mars in long run. It is aimed to develop a reliable spaceflight system that will carry humans and resupply the payloads. If technologies are capable enough, NASA with international collaborations is aimed to establish a permanent Space Station around the moon. It will act as the docking and parking station for manned and unmanned flights.
Whatever the technology that can simulate those conditions, there is no way that it can perfectly replicate the conditions in any experiments or environments. This is unbelievably true in space flights. Space is hard. There is no better way than to test it in real conditions and see how it performs. It is due to this reason that several test flights and trials are made before risking human life in trial and error.
SLS is manufactured from the tested engines and booster of space shuttle missions, the goal is to test the capability of SLS to become a carry truck for the future moon mission. Moreover, as the re-entry speed is much greater than the flight from the ISS (International Space Station), engineers developed a new material for the heat shield. They also want to test the capability of the heat shield of the Orion capsule.
Future Scope of Artemis Mission
The Artemis mission after rigorous testing is expected to carry out the first human flight in 2024 in Artemis 4 mission. It will be a couple or male and female first to land on the surface. It would finally be used to build a moon base (like ISS) for the future Mars mission.
Conclusion
Space is hard. What is even harder is to go away from the Earth’s orbit. It is due to the Van Allen belt (the region of charged particles and radiation above the parking orbit of Earth which comes mostly from the solar winds, trapped, and deflected by Earth’s magnetic field). Therefore, Engineers need to design space vehicles that will protect the astronauts from getting affected or minimize radiation exposure. Therefore, space journeys are a dangerous and fascinating experience for humankind. Let’s hope for good luck for Artemis. GO!! GO!!
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