Artemis Mission Flashcards
Why in News?
Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rolled out its Artemis I moon mission to the launchpad for testing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is about to launch its Artemis Program.
What is Artemis I 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.
It will test the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew capsule.
Artemis I will be the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come.
The primary goals for Artemis I are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and ensure a safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery prior to the first flight with crew on Artemis II.
What are 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. in the summer of 2022.
The mission will end with the Orion spacecraft’s ability to return safely to the earth.
Artemis I launch
The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft have completed their journey from their assembly building to Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
At launch, the rocket will produce a maximum of more than 3.9 million kilograms of thrust from its four RS-25 engines and five-segment boosters.
Shortly after launch, the boosters, service module and launch abort systems will be offloaded.
Then, the core stage engines will be shut down and the core stage will separate from the spacecraft.
Artemis I: Trajectory to the moon
After launch, the spacecraft will orbit the Earth and deploy its solar arrays.
Next, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will give Orion a “push” to help it leave Earth’s orbit and travel toward the planet’s only natural satellite.
Then, within about two hours from launch time, when the spacecraft is on a trajectory to the Moon, it will separate from ICPS.
When it separates from the spacecraft, ICPS will deploy small satellites, known as CubeSats to send them on their journey to deep space.
This includes BioSentinel, which will carry yeast into deep space to study the effects of deep space radiation on living matter.
The other CubeSats will also perform many science and technology demonstrations.
Artemis I: Moon orbit
On its path to the Moon, Orion will be propelled by a service module built by the European Space Agency.
Apart from supplying the spacecraft’s propulsion system and power, the service module is also designed to house air and water for future crewed missions.
Once it enters the Moon’s orbit, the spacecraft will collect data.
Afterwards, Orion will use a precisely timed engine firing of the service module in combination with the Moon’s gravity to accelerate back towards our planet.
Artemis I: Reentry into Earth’s atmosphere
After a total mission time of around 6 weeks, Orion will enter Earth’s atmosphere.
And if all goes as planned, it will land in the sea, within eyesight of a recovery ship stationed off the coast of Baja in California.
What are the future missions in the Artemis programme?
The second flight under the programme will have crew on board and will test Orion’s critical systems with humans onboard.
Eventually, the learnings from the Artemis programme will be utilised to send the first astronauts to Mars.
NASA plans on using the lunar orbit to gain the necessary experience to extend human exploration of space farther into the solar system.
What is the 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 Clementine and 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.
What are ISRO’s Moon Exploration Efforts?
Chandrayaan 1:
The Chandrayaan project began in 2007 with an agreement between India’s space agency ISRO and Russia’s ROSCOSMOS for mutual cooperation.
However, the mission was postponed in January 2013 and rescheduled to 2016 as Russia was unable to develop the lander on time.
Findings: Confirmed presence of lunar water.
Evidence of lunar caves formed by an ancient lunar lava flow.
Past tectonic activity was found on the lunar surface.
The faults and fractures discovered could be features of past interior tectonic activity coupled with meteorite impacts.
Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second mission to the moon and comprises a fully indigenous Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan).
The Rover Pragyan is housed inside Vikram lander.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently announced India’s third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3, which will comprise a lander and a rover.
WHAT IS CAPSTONE?
CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a lunar orbiter that will test and verify the calculated orbital stability planned for the Lunar Gateway space station.
The spacecraft is a 12-unit CubeSat that will also test a navigation system that will measure its position relative to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) without relying on ground stations.
It was launched on 28 June 2022, arrived in lunar orbit on 14 November 2022, and is scheduled to orbit for six months.
LUNAR GATEWAY
The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is a planned small space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, and short-term habitation module for government-agency astronauts, as well as a holding area for rovers and other robots.
It is a multinational collaborative project involving four of the International Space Station partner agencies: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It is planned to be both the first space station beyond low Earth orbit and the first space station to orbit the Moon.
Launch November 2024
