We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
On April 1, for the first time since 1972, NASA launched a rocket to the Moon, although there is no plan to land on the lunar surface. No, that's not an April Fool's joke. With its crew of four astronauts on board, Artemis II lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at approximately 4:30 p.m. Mountain Time to test human deep space capabilities.
NASA's Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, on a ten-day mission around the Moon and back.
According to NASA's website, this flight marks a key step towards a long term return to the Moon. "The Artemis II mission will carry astronauts farther from Earth and closer to the Moon than any human has been in over half a century. From this unique vantage point and environment, the Artemis II crew will work with scientists on Earth to facilitate science investigations to inform future human spaceflight missions," says NASA.
That flight also proposes to provide data to NASA researchers about how deep space travel affects the human body, mind, and behavior. Results will help the agency build future interventions, protocols, and preventative measures to best protect astronauts on future missions to the lunar surface and to Mars.
"The mission is expected to validate the spacecraft, life-support systems, and operational procedures required to safely send astronauts to the Moon and back.
In that sense, Artemis II functions as the program's proving ground – less about destination and more about endurance and reliability," a NASA spokesperson reports.
From a technical standpoint, Artemis II is primarily focused on validating four critical elements:
• Crewed life-support systems, including air, water, thermal control, and waste management, over a ten-day deep space mission
• Radiation exposure monitoring beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere
• Navigation and communications at lunar distances
• High-speed Earth reentry, with the Orion capsule expected to hit Earth's atmosphere at nearly 25,000 mph
When Artemis' Orion capsule returns to Earth after its ten-day test period, it will splash into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Francisco and be recovered by a U.S. Navy ship.
