NASA was going to launch its Artemis 1 mission on 3 September, 2022. This was NASA’s second attempt. The mission had to be canceled due to fuel-leak before the launch and thus the mission failed once again.
UPSC Syllabus
This topic will come under General Studies Paper 3 – Science and technology
Features of Artemis 1 Mission
- Artemis is an unmanned mission.
- In this, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was to be launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
- It will be associated with the ORION Crew Module.
- During its journey to the Moon, 10 small research satellites (CubeSats) will be placed on Earth’s orbit.
- ORION will orbit the Moon at an altitude of about 43,000 miles (i.e. 70,000 km) above the surface and while returning to the earth, parachutes will be used to land somewhere on the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis Mission
- The goal of the Artemis mission is to send humans in 2024 on moon’s surface. It is decied to send a woman for the first time.
- This mission aims to send manned missions to the South Pole of the Moon and to the other remote areas.
- Its estimated cost is $35 billion.
- Through the Artemis mission, NASA seeks to demonstrate new technologies, capabilities and business approaches that will be needed for future Mars missions.
- According to Greek belief, “Artemis” was the goddess of wild animals or hunting, and was the twin sister of Apollo (6 astronauts were sent to the Moon by NASA between 1969 and 1972 under Apollo, the mission series itself).
In NASA’s proposed plan, 4 astronauts will be sent to the Moon’s orbit through the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in the Orion spacecraft. From there, 2 astronauts will be landed on the surface of the Moon through Space X’s Human Landing System (HLS) starship. After examining the surface of the Moon for about a week, both the astronauts will return to the Orion spacecraft and then they will return to the Earth.