By: Lindsay Mullins
On November 16, 2022, the Artemis I Spacecraft was launched. Over twenty-five and a half days, it traveled 1.4 million miles before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022. The Artemis launch was a success.
It had been fifty years since the launch of Apollo 17, the last mission to the moon. Why was there such a large span of time in between? The answer: funding. Unfortunately, there was not enough funding, government or otherwise, to put in the research and development of more spacecraft. Apollo 17, launched in 1972, was the last of its time. But between 1972 and 2022, there has been a lot of improvement in both funding and technology. The Artemis program was started in 2017, with the intent to reestablish a human presence on the Moon.
What are the major components of the program? The biggest changes in the program have come in the technology. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is currently the most powerful rocket system in the world, designed by NASA to send astronauts into deep space. Its first flight was on the Artemis I mission. It can produce a maximum 8.8 million pounds of thrust, exerting more power than any rocket before! The Orion spacecraft is a fairly recently developed capsule. A whole lot of testing has been done on the spacecraft in order to make it lighter than spacecraft used for the Apollo mission, while at the same time making it more efficient and able to use new technologies. The Orion spacecraft actually uses some aspects of a space shuttle. Orion’s 970 outer tiles are made of the same material as the tiles that protected the shuttle, and the crew seats will use technology from the space shuttle program in order to reduce mass while keeping the astronauts safe. The next aspect of the Artemis program is the Lunar Gateway space station. According to NASA, the Gateway is a vital component of NASA’s Artemis program. It will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the Moon that provides essential support for long-term human return to the lunar surface. Finally, there are commercial Human Landing Systems involved with the Artemis program. The Starship Human Landing System (Starship HLS) was selected by NASA for long-duration crewed lunar landings as part of NASA’s Artemis program. It is optimized to operate on and around the moon. The new developments in the SLS, the Orion spacecraft, the Gateway Space Station, and the Starship HLS have made the Artemis mission possible.
What were the goals of Artemis 1, and how does that contribute to the long term goals of the entire Artemis Program? The Artemis I mission wanted to provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to not only the moon, but also to other planets in the future. Artemis I was fundamental to the space economy, as it fueled new industries and technologies, supported job growth, and allowed the demand for a highly skilled workforce to increase.
The Artemis program intends to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The NASA scientists want to establish a permanent base camp on the Moon and use it to facilitate human missions to Mars.Artemis II will be the first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft around the Moon. Artemis II is planned for launch in November of 2024. NASA continues to work tirelessly on the Artemis program, looking forward to the day that humans can travel to Mars.
Into the Jungle 