The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, recently unveiled the details of its latest moon mission, Artemis I. This ambitious venture is to be held at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States, encompassing a series of increasingly complex tasks with the grand aim of sending humans back to the moon and beyond, to Mars.
The Artemis Moon Mission
NASA’s Artemis mission holds the promise of being a new era of lunar exploration. Named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology who also happens to be the goddess of the moon, this mission aims to land humans on the lunar surface by 2024. The landmark achievement of this quest will be landing the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
NASA has plans to establish an Artemis Base Camp on the moon’s surface and a gateway (the lunar outpost around the Moon) in lunar orbit for facilitating exploration by robots and astronauts. This gateway forms a crucial part of NASA’s sustainable lunar operations and will function as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the moon.
The Artemis program involves partnerships with other space agencies as well. The Canadian Space Agency has pledged to provide advanced robotics for the gateway, while the European Space Agency is due to supply the International Habitat and the ESPRIT module. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has plans to contribute habitation components and logistics resupply.
Key Details about Artemis I Mission
Previously known as Exploration Mission-1, Artemis I serves as the first integrated flight test for NASA’s Deep Space Exploration Systems. It includes:
1. Orion spacecraft: The spacecraft that is set to spend a record period in space without docking to a space station.
2. Space Launch System (SLS) rocket: Considered the world’s most powerful rocket, it will travel 280,000 miles from the earth for over four to six weeks during the mission.
3. Newly upgraded Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida: Artemis I is an uncrewed space mission planned for launch on an SLS rocket.
The main goal of the operation is to ensure the safe entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery of the crew module. Artemis I is slated to be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida during the summer of 2022 and will conclude with Orion’s safe return to Earth.
The Future Of The Artemis Program
The second flight under the program will have a crew on board and aim to test Orion’s critical systems with humans onboard. The knowledge gained from the Artemis missions will eventually be used to send the first astronauts to Mars. NASA plans to use the lunar orbit to accumulate the necessary experience for extending human exploration of space farther into the solar system.
History Of Moon Exploration
The history of moon exploration dates back to 1959, when the Soviet Union’s uncrewed Luna 1 and 2 made the first visit to the Moon. The United States ventured into putting people in space as early as 1961 and by July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong along with Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
After July 1969, 12 American astronauts walked on the lunar surface until 1972. Later in the 1990s, US resumed lunar exploration with robotic missions Clementine and Lunar Prospector.
In addition to the US, other countries including the European Space Agency, Japan, China, and India have orchestrated missions to explore the Moon.
ISRO’s Moon Exploration Efforts
India’s moon exploration efforts started with the Chandrayaan project in 2007, an agreement between India’s ISRO and Russia’s ROSCOSMOS for mutual cooperation. The Chandrayaan-1 mission confirmed the presence of lunar water and evidence of lunar caves formed by an ancient lunar lava flow.
This was followed by Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the moon, which comprised a fully indigenous Orbiter, Lander (Vikram), and Rover (Pragyan). Now, ISRO has announced India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, that will include a lander and a rover.
UPSC Civil Services Examination Questions Related To Space Exploration
In the UPSC Civil Services Examination, questions related to space exploration have been frequently asked. Some of the previous year questions include matching spacecraft to their respective purposes, understanding the functionalities of various satellites launched by ISRO, and comprehending the goals of different space missions conducted by the US Space Agency.
Last Modified: February 15, 2024