- NASA unveiled the first complete plan for its Artemis program, a series of missions to the moon for the first time since 1972.
- The program will launch an orbiting mission to the moon in 2021, followed by Crew Moon Flyby in 2023, and a lunar landing in 2024.
- The plan also calls on NASA and other agencies to establish a lunar base.
- But for Artemis to happen, NASA needs 28 28 billion over the next four years.
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NASA has unveiled its first complete plan for its Artemis mission, which aims to put the first woman on the moon and the first man since 1972.
The plan calls for a lunar landing in 2024, but before that, NASA plans to launch two more missions to the moon to test its new Orion spacecraft.
“Our plan to land the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024 is on track!” Kathy Luders, Head of NASA’s Directorate of Human Research and Mission Operations Tweeted on Monday.
The plan is ambitious, however – NASA Administrator Jim Brydenstein is well aware.
“2024 is an aggressive timeline,” he told reporters during a briefing on Monday. “Is that possible? Yes. Is everything going well? Yes.”
Yet, the agency is not sure it will get enough money to pull off the plan. NASA is asking Congress for about 28 28 billion.
And once funding is exhausted and NASA lands astronauts on the moon in four years, the agency’s goals become even more challenging. NASA hopes to place people on the lunar surface at least once a year from 2024 and build a permanent lunar outpost in the early 2030s. The agency also hopes to build and install a gateway, a space station, which orbits the moon and supports frequent travel to the surface.
That infrastructure could change the journey to Mars after 2030.
Here are the latest details on the planned Artemis mission.
2 missions must be successful before people can return to the moon again
An artist’s portrayal of NASA’s space launch system stops the crew in orbital direction.
NASA / MSFC
The first mission in the Artemis program, Artemis 1, calls for the launch of the Orion Space Capsule, on top of NASA’s next mega-rocket, the Space System. The spacecraft would not carry any passengers, but would remain in lunar orbit for three days as a test of its ability to fly on and behind the moon. NASA’s timeline indicates that the mission will begin in November 2021.
After that, Artemis 2 will be the first crew test of the Orion and SLS rockets. In the lunar flyby, the Orion capsule will carry four astronauts to the far side of the moon, about a million miles from Earth. That crew will go deeper into space than any of the men before them.
Once Orion is away, the gravitational pull of the Moon and Earth will pull the spacecraft back home. The entire mission is expected to take about 10 days, which serves as a test of Orion’s ability to land humans safely on the moon.
The mission is currently set to begin in August 2023.
Artemis 3 astronauts will land at the moon’s south pole
For the Artemis 3 mission in 2024, NASA will launch the Orion spacecraft, land it in lunar orbit, land astronauts on the lunar surface, and then safely return everyone to Earth.
The mission is expected to send people to the moon’s south pole (despite recent rumors suggesting that Apollo may have visited a place visited by astronauts before the mission). Landing at the South Pole is technically more difficult than landing at other sites; No human or robotic mission has accomplished this feat.
To accomplish this goal, NASA needs a human landing system: to take astronauts from orbit to the lunar surface. Artemis calls the system to provide life support for astronauts for about a week after landing in the plan, then bring them back to lunar orbit.
The agency is already working with three commercial space companies – Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX – to develop prototypes for the system.
New spacesuits are also in the works. While they look exactly like the Apollo astronauts wear (and still have diapers), the suits are more flexible, which should make it easier for astronauts to perform complex tasks on astronauts. The design also includes helmet communications systems and other technological upgrades.
In Washington D.C., October 15, 2019 NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein with NASA Spacesuit Engineers Amy Ross and Kristin Davis wearing a prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit.
Joel Cosky / NASA
NASA is betting that the Moon’s South Pole will give the most value to human travelers, as it probably contains a lot of stagnant water hidden in the bottoms of cra craters, which do not touch sunlight. Astronauts (or robots) can apparently mine that ice, melt it, store it, and use electricity to split water into liquid oxygen and hydrogen – a key oxidizer and fuel, for many types of rockets, respectively. .
NASA scientists hope that the fuel mined and produced on the moon could be used for deeper travel to the next home or space.
By cultivating such resources on the moon, space explorers have begun to “stay out of the ground,” Brydenstein said.
Since its first mission, NASA hopes to put humans on the moon every year
The artist’s idea of Artemis base camp.
NASA
Artemis 3 is the beginning of NASA’s ambitions. After that, the agency hopes to establish an orbital gateway similar to the International Space Station in lunar orbit.
Like the ISS, Gateway expects international efforts: Russia’s Roscomos, Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, among others, have agreed to help build it.
These agencies are on a board to collaborate at the Lunar Base Camp at the South Pole, which houses four people. The base will be equipped with two lunar-terrain vehicles, one of which can run long and explore from the camp.
But the budget has not been worked out yet
Very soon, NASA says it needs 3. 3.2 billion in funding to develop a human landing system. So far, the agency has spent about 1 1 billion on those efforts.
Artist rendering of the Human Lending System (HLS).
NASA
The remaining funds are far from a fixed condition. NASA is showing its hope on the NMinibus Appropriations Bill at the end of the year, but the House of Representatives has so far approved only $ 630 million in additional funding.
Bridenstane said Monday he hopes to get a new budget to fund Artemis after the November election.
“If we can do that before Christmas, we’re still on track for the 2024 lunar landing.”
A report by Space News states that Brindenstein is expected to appear before a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday to explain NASA’s budget request, which came about six months earlier than usual.
Without full congressional funding, Brydenstein said, the agency would not reach the moon in 2024, although it could still “try to get there” as soon as possible.
Commercial industries like SpaceX will also be able to travel to the moon potentially on their own money, he added.
“Companies can push themselves to the plate in a big way,” Bridenstein said. “If they don’t provide the money, will they be able to do it with their own resources? I’ll decide for myself.”
