2023-04-26 01:34:04
OTTAWA — Four astronauts selected to orbit the Moon say the Artemis II mission can help shed light on how Canada is responding to food insecurity, health care needs and climate adaptation in the Arctic .
“How do we actually get eight billion people to row in the same direction and work on these issues? Because these are global issues,” said Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian colonel who will join three Americans in space.
“We can do great things together. We can do better as a human species. And here is a small example,” he said alongside his teammates in an interview Tuesday with The Canadian Press.
The 10-day mission scheduled for November 2024 is part of an ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, and NASA hopes Ottawa will further increase its spending in space.
The crew will orbit the Earth, and propel themselves hundreds of thousands of miles away for a figure-8 maneuver around the Moon, before their momentum carries them home.
If successful, the flight will mark the first time a human has ventured this far from Earth and set the stage for another mission scheduled for 2025. This will include driving a vehicle on the surface of the Earth. Moon and the search for materials that might be converted into fuel and building materials.
A diverse team
Mission pilot Victor Glover stressed that the diversity of the small but highly specialized crew, which includes people of two nationalities, a woman and a black man, is a deliberate message to the planet.
“It’s an example of what we can achieve, of the challenges we can overcome,” said Mr. Glover, who is black.
“When we bring our diverse skills, our countries together, we can do what the president said in your parliament: ‘great things,'” he said, referring to President Joe Biden’s speech in the House municipalities last month.
NASA’s audit arm estimates that the Artemis program, which successfully sent an unmanned spacecraft around the Moon last November and plans for astronauts to stay on the Moon for a week, will cost up to US$93 billion. in the fall of 2025.
The ultimate subsequent ambition is to install a manned outpost in orbit around the Moon.
Fallout on Earth
The crew noted that beyond the positive message of cooperation sent by the mission, there is a range of “inspiring feedback” and economic spinoffs.
Hansen said the scientific research involved in the mission is particularly important to Canadians, as it will gather tons of relevant data on climate change and test new ways to deal with remote environments.
He said there is “significant overlap” between a sustained presence on the lunar surface, and possibly on Mars, and solving some of the problems on Earth.
“If we can’t grow food in the Canadian Arctic, how can we expect to grow it on the Moon and Mars?” he asked.
“These are areas where we can use the inspiration of space to help us bring real benefits to Canadians on the planet and to society at large.”
The Canadian Space Agency also sees the mission as a way to advance technology jobs in commercial space robotics, building on the success of the Canadarm series of robotic arms.
Mr Hansen said Canadians need to recognize “there is an opportunity for us to take advantage of a program like Artemis”.
A program in the making
For decades, the International Space Station has been the only destination for astronauts. Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to the Moon since the last Apollo mission flew in 1972, and the four astronauts will be the first humans to use the Orion spacecraft, which returned to Earth last December following circling around the moon.
“We don’t have a set training plan that’s been proven and done over and over once more,” explained astronaut Christina Hammock Koch.
“We get to invent it as we go, and it’s up to us to make it the best it can be for the next ones.”
Ms Koch already knows what it’s like to adjust to being off-planet, having spent 328 days on the space station.
“Being upside down can feel like standing up. You can literally feel like you’re moving when you’re not,” she said of the first 48 hours in space.
Yet during this time, her team will be tasked with “some of the most critical mission operations,” such as steering the vehicle and measuring its proximity to other objects, she explained.
Mission Commander Reid Wiseman said mission diversity resulted from choosing the best for each role.
“They have outstanding backgrounds and great skills,” he said.
A woman on the moon
The head of the agency, Bill Nelson, has nevertheless made a point of saying that a woman will be among those chosen to walk on the surface of the Moon when Artemis III is launched, probably in 2025.
But he did not say whether the first non-American to walk on the moon would be a Canadian.
“It will be the first woman and the next man to walk on the Moon. Any awarding of these missions is far too early to talk regarding,” said Nelson, a former astronaut.
He noted that the European Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency have both made “substantial investments” in joint programs with NASA.
“Each carried several astronauts with us. Everyone is increasing their budget for their space program, and I think we will also see a parallel path with Canada,” Nelson added.
“Now with Jeremy going to the moon, I think Canada’s participation will increase.”
Mr. Hansen, the only astronaut on the mission who has not yet been in space, said he wanted to show that it is possible to go from a farm in rural Ontario to the far side of the Moon.
“My message to Canadians is, ‘Don’t stay small. I think we are used to doing that, he said. There are so many geniuses across the country contributing to the world.”
He said he’s excited regarding what the Artemis missions plan to uncover, from monitoring weather conditions to whether the regolith that covers the Moon might be used to create concrete building-like structures.
“We’re going to have humans walking on the moon, we’re going to have humans going to Mars, and we’re going to solve real huge problems on the planet,” Hansen concluded.
“It’s not the pinnacle. It’s just a small step.”
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