The launch of the uncrewed Artemis I mission was canceled once once more following battling fuel load issues as it prepared to launch on a historic journey around the Moon.
NASA’s Artemis mission – named following the ancient Greek deity – is just the beginning of a program that aims to return humans to the moon and eventually landing manned missions on Mars. To delve into this scientific milestone in Future 360 we talked with Bernadette Riedgraduated in physics and astronomy from the University of Chile and promoter of Center for Astrophysics and Related Technologies (CATA).
“It marks a historical event, we are entering a new era of space race where the goal is Mars,” said the expert. The program’s inaugural mission will launch a phase of NASA’s space exploration intended to land diverse crews of astronauts in previously unexplored regions of the Moon on the Artemis II and Artemis III missions. scheduled for 2024 and 2025 respectively.
NASA authorities decided that “more launch attempts will be given up in early September”, so according to their takeoff plan, a new window might be expected for the tenth month of the year. “I think there is a consensus that it is good that the launch has been stopped to study it well,” he said.
#Future360 | When will the Artemis I???? mission be released? What happened in the failed attempts to go to the Moon? Bernadette Ried (@Berniried), physicist/astronomer @uchile and popularizer #CATAinvites you to tune in #Future360 at 22:30, to clear your doubts.
By @CNNChile???? pic.twitter.com/nl8MPglDXW
– Future 360 (@future_360) September 6, 2022
“Going to the Moon is also a test for suits, tools and technology to be seen to work,” he added. Although the passenger list does not include humans, three mannequins and a Snoopy stuffed animal, which will serve as a zero gravity indicator and will begin to float inside the capsule once it reaches the space environment.
The mannequins, called Commander Moonikin Campos, Helga and ZoharThey will measure deep space radiation that future crews might experience and test new suits and protective technologies. A biology experiment carrying seeds, algae, fungi and yeasts is also inside Orion to measure how life reacts to this radiation.
For Bernadette, the “feminine presence in these missions is remarkable, not for nothing is called Artemis that is the twin of Apollo”. In fact, 9 of the 18 members of the Artemis I mission will be women.
Read also: NASA, we have a problem! Artemis I postpones its launch possibly for October
Differences with the Apollo mission
The Program Apolo It was developed by the United States in the 1960s as part of the space race with the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. More than 50 years later, it remains the greatest achievement of the US space agency.
Regarding the differences with said mission, Ried clarified that “with the technological development that we have today, it is very likely that we will be able to measure things that might not be measured at that time.”
It marks a historical fact, we are entering a new era of space race where the goal is Mars – Bernadette Ried.
“It is a very different mission from those that were carried out with the Apollo missions and the scientific objectives,” he pointed out.
