2023-07-31 06:30:42
The manned flight program on the Moon ARTEMIS, led by Nasa, should see humans return to the Moon at the earliest in 2025. With, in focus, the first Martian mission.
The American program ARTEMISalso timidly financed – up to 7% – by theEuropean Space Agencytherefore provides for a manned flight on lunar soil by 2025, more reasonably 2026. Developed by NASA, the program initially provided for a manned mission for 2028, but under the impetus of then President Donald Trump, the latter was brought forward three years.
One of ARTEMIS’ ambitions is to settle permanently on the Moon to carry out long-term research and experiments. This therefore implies the operation of a permanent station on our satellite. Site which will be used incidentally to develop many equipment and devices intended to be used during future Martian missions.
The ARTEMIS program is taking place in three successive phases, the dates of which, as is often the case, are questionable. ARTEMIS 1the first stage, saw NASA’s giant rocket, the SLS (Space Launch System), take off successfully, the November 16, 2022 :
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Incidentally, the SLS launched the orion ship towards the Moon. This vessel, which will house the astronauts for the next lunar mission, continued its journey to our nearest star, then returned to Earth, to land 25 days after its launch in the Pacific Ocean, as planned. . As hoped, the giant heat shield – five meters in diameter – perfectly resisted re-entry into the atmosphere, after having traveled more than 2.2 million kilometers in space. In 2014, a first test had been carried out with this type of capsule, but it had not left Earth’s orbit, and its entry into the atmosphere had been made at a lower speed, of the order of 32 000 km/h.
From the end of 2024, ARTEMIS 2 must take 4 astronauts (3 Americans, including a woman, and a Canadian), aboard the Orion capsule, in orbit around the Moon, before returning to Earth:
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This crucial step in the program will validate all the devices and technologies used to carry out the final mission, ARTEMIS 3. With ARTEMIS 2, humans return to lunar orbit for the first time since 1972.
In 2025, or perhaps a little later, the ARTEMIS 3 mission should see the completion of the ARTEMIS program, namely taking astronauts to lunar soil. The crew will consist of 4 astronauts, two of whom will descend to the surface of the Moon aboard the HLS vessel to stay there for 6.5 days. This ARTEMIS 3 mission will be followed by other missions, the aim being to stay longer and longer on our natural satellite, to study it of course, and to develop and test the innovative technologies necessary to make a future Mars mission possible. .
A return to the Moon in a relatively short time therefore, of which NASA has given many details on the contours, like moon landing sites, which will be located near the south pole of the star. At this location, the sunlight allows certain areas to be illuminated all day, while others, at the bottom of the craters, are continuously in shade. This zone therefore makes it possible to imagine producing solar energy continuously, and to limit extreme drops in temperature. At the bottom of the craters, where the sun’s rays do not reach, there are reserves of ice, which could be exploited either to produce water, oxygen or even fuel in the form of propellant.
Next step therefore with ARTEMIS 2, the launch of which is currently scheduled for November 2024.
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