“NASA is going back to the moon with the Artemis Program, so let's talk about the politics behind the launch date, including commercial partners, and the fight for jobs a massive program like this brings.”--Olu Thomas, 8th grade
As of right now it's looking like the first Artemis launch could be as early as February 2022, but that is looking very unlikely. Artemis One’s flight will not have crew aboard; it will be a test flight to make sure that all the systems check out before putting humans on a rocket that has never flown.
Let's dive into the mighty launch vehicle that Artemis will be flying on. Built by Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the SLS, or (Space Launch System), will be the next in line of American flagship launch vehicles following in the likes of the STS (Space Transport System), and the Saturn 5. Standing at 321 feet tall it will be the largest rocket to ever fly if it manages to get off the ground before Space X’s starship.
Atop the Space Launch System will sit the orion crew capsule and command module. The capsule has been in development for almost 10 years and is where the people will live during the mission. The command module will have some fuel and engines to help the crew move about in space.
Now that the rocket has been explained, let's talk about the lander which will... land. From the three research proposals selected by NASA, SpaceX was chosen with their lunar starship variant, beating out the national team and dynetics. The lunar starship is a version of starship that will never return to earth, and will land on the moon and stay there. Along with this there will be a base camp setup on the surface of the moon which will stay there likely for a very long time. This camp will have all sort of gear for astronauts and all sorts of essential things.
Many people still do not know why we are going back to the moon. We have been there before, right? Yes but not like this, this time there will be climbing gear, rovers and most importantly technologies that we simply did not have in the 70s.
Such as the ability to get over our sexism and racism and land the first woman and person of color on the moon. One of the main reasons to go back to the moon is simply for discovery, there is more there just like how there is more on the bottom of the ocean that we have not explored and as long as we can NASA will try to leave no stone unturned. The next reason is for economic opportunities, and last but not least is to inspire the new generation. After all, it's pretty cool to look up at the stars and know that there are brave men and women playing golf on the moon.
Atop the Space Launch System will sit the orion crew capsule and command module. The capsule has been in development for almost 10 years and is where the people will live during the mission. The command module will have some fuel and engines to help the crew move about in space.
Now that the rocket has been explained, let's talk about the lander which will... land. From the three research proposals selected by NASA, SpaceX was chosen with their lunar starship variant, beating out the national team and dynetics. The lunar starship is a version of starship that will never return to earth, and will land on the moon and stay there. Along with this there will be a base camp setup on the surface of the moon which will stay there likely for a very long time. This camp will have all sort of gear for astronauts and all sorts of essential things.
Many people still do not know why we are going back to the moon. We have been there before, right? Yes but not like this, this time there will be climbing gear, rovers and most importantly technologies that we simply did not have in the 70s.
Such as the ability to get over our sexism and racism and land the first woman and person of color on the moon. One of the main reasons to go back to the moon is simply for discovery, there is more there just like how there is more on the bottom of the ocean that we have not explored and as long as we can NASA will try to leave no stone unturned. The next reason is for economic opportunities, and last but not least is to inspire the new generation. After all, it's pretty cool to look up at the stars and know that there are brave men and women playing golf on the moon.
