NASA presented, this Wednesday (3), plans for Artemis I, an unmanned lunar mission with the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System, which, according to the agency, will act as a “springboard” for manned missions in Mars.
“Through the Artemis program, we will land the first woman and first black person on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a springboard to send astronauts to Mars,” they said.
At the Free webcast, broadcast over NASA channels, the agency said that “Artemis 1 will set the stage for the first manned lunar missions in the future.”
As previously reported, takeoff should take place between August 29 and September 2 — not before that.
The meeting, which started around noon, lasted about 1 hour. On Friday (5), another broadcast should feature the Artemis 1 mission hardware.
According to NASA, participants will get a personal look at development mockups, design simulators, flight control operations and hardware under development for lunar exploration.
The test flight, which will take off in the next few days, is part of the Artemis program, a mission that aims to return humans to the lunar surface by 2025.
With several goals, the Artemis 1 test should include trying to observe how the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield withstands the high speed and heat the rocket will encounter upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after returning from the Moon. NASA’s projections show that the flight should last 42 days.
The rocket will travel at about 39,429 kilometers per hour and will experience temperatures half the Sun’s heat outside the heat shield, according to Mike Sarafin, manager of the Artemis mission.
This is much hotter and faster than when the spacecraft returns from low Earth orbit.
Other objectives include demonstrating the rocket and spacecraft’s operations and flight modes prior to manned missions, recovering Orion after it crashes into the ocean, and completing the mission as planned, Sarafin previously said.
Source: CNN Brasil
