Artemis: according to NASA’s plan, the first woman will set foot on the moon in 2024

The US space agency NASA has officially revealed the details of its plan to get people back to the moon. The £ 2.8 billion (£ 26 billion) project plans to return to the moon by 2024. This is the first time a woman will set foot on the moon as part of this mission.

NASA has named this project Artemis. After the first manned landing on the moon in 1982, NASA will send a man and a woman to the moon in this project.

But NASA says it needs to deliver £ 3.2 billion to Congress in a timely manner if it wants to keep its planned schedule, because it needs to make a timely landing if it wants to land on the Moon in time.

The astronauts will travel in a capsule like Apollo, called Orion. A rocket called the SLS will launch it.

On Monday, Jim Brydenstein, NASA Administrator, said: The budget for the Artemis project includes the cost of launching the SLS, the cost of the Orion, as well as the cost of the manned moon landing and the cost of the space suites of the astronauts.

However, he explained: “The 3.2 billion pounds that we are appealing to the US Congress and Senate to build a landing system should reach us by 2021.” If we don’t get this money in time, we won’t be able to achieve our goal of landing on the moon a second time by 2024. “

The US House of Representatives has already passed a bill approving £ 800 million to build a vehicle that lands on the Moon. But NASA needs more money to make the spacecraft perfect.

Sir. In July 2019, Brydenstein told CNN TV that the first woman to walk on the moon in 2024 would be a “woman with experience in space travel, who has already been to an international space station.” She added that someone from the group of astronauts would be selected for the mission.

During that interview, the names of 12 female astronauts came to light. Since then, NASA has listed five more astronauts. After completing their training earlier this year, they joined NASA. However, it is not yet clear whether they will be able to meet the eligibility criteria and prepare for the mission within the next four years.

When asked about the timing of the astronaut selection for Artemis, the NASA chief said they wanted to select the astronaut team at least two years before the first mission was dispatched.

However, he said: “It is important to start the selection process from the beginning who will go to Artemis as an astronaut. Another reason is that I think it will also serve as inspiration.”

The White House also wants to send astronauts back to the moon, as the United States seeks to reestablish its leadership in space exploration.

NASA plans to collect valuable samples of ice and water that have accumulated at the moon’s south pole. It may be possible to make rocket fuel cheaply on the moon. If this can be done, there will be no need to transport rocket fuel from Earth and a foundation for the lunar economy will be created.

But Vice President Mike Pence is concerned about China’s space ambitions. In January 2019, the East Asian superpower, China, made a comfortable landing of a robotic rover inside the first moon. China is now preparing to send its first mission to deliver lunar soil samples to Earth’s laboratory.

China is now building a new generation of spacecraft for Chinese astronauts, capable of being sent to the moon. Although there is no indication that China can build the spacecraft by 2024, China is expected to make much progress toward that goal this decade.

The new NASA document describes the first phase of the American plan to send unmanned spacecraft to the moon. The first phase is Artemis One, which will be released in the fall of 2021.

Kathy Lloyders, head of the flight with NASA astronauts, said it would take Artemis about a month to examine the various complications.

He says the test will identify potential risks for Artemis-Tour and try to address them. Artemis-II will carry out similar missions with astronauts in orbit around the moon.

The Orion spacecraft will be operated by the astronauts themselves after it is separated from the launch rocket. Therefore, an additional test mission is being organized to facilitate that journey. This test mission will test Orion’s mechanical abilities and the quality and performance of various components.

Then Artemis-III will go to the moon with astronauts. Forty-six years before Apollo 16 will land on the moon, this will be the American lunar mission in which astronauts will set foot on the moon again.

NASA has contracted with various agencies to design landing vehicles.

NASA will build an astronaut camp called Artemis Base Camp later this decade as part of its long-term plan, which will have the infrastructure to carry out long-term missions to the moon.