On November 16, 2022, the USA launched Artemis I – an unmanned mission to the moon. The launching of the mission wasn’t quite smooth though. The original launching date was August 29 but it had to be postponed four times because of rocket malfunctions, hurricane Ian, and tropical storm Nicole. The Artemis program consists of three missions. According to NASA’s Artemis plan published in September 2020, the first two missions – Artemis I and Artemis II will prepare the ground for landing astronauts on the moon. Artemis I consists of Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The Orion spacecraft can carry four astronauts. In unmanned Artemis I, Orion is carrying robotic mannequins for studying how much the astronauts will be exposed to radiation and the efficacy of the flight suits. Of course, the functioning of SLS and Orion will also be tested. Artemis I will come back to earth with all the collected data on December 11. 2022. NASA has amended the Artemis plan and accordingly, Artemis II and III will now be launched hopefully, in 2024 and 2025 respectively. Artemis II will carry astronauts but they will not land on the moon. Landing astronauts on the moon will happen in the Artemis III mission.
The above-mentioned Artemis plan revealed that the Artemis program originated from then US president Donald Trump’s directive in 2017 to return humans to the moon and eventually land on Mars. In 2019 the president asked again to send astronauts to the moon within five years that is, by 2024.
In the past, NASA landed astronauts on the moon through its Apollo mission. Apollo 11 landed humans on the Moon for the first time in July 1969. There were five more Apollo missions that landed humans on the moon the last one being Apollo 17 in 1972. The Apollo program was also undertaken following the directive of another US president John F. Kennedy in May 1961.
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This article was published in the Daily Sun on December 10, 2022. Please read the full article here or here.