Artemis Mission- Deep Exploration System
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By, Himadri Sonowal BS-MS 2020
Artemis, as quoted in the last article, ‘our generation’s Apollo 8’ is but a few integrated tests away from its first mission being launched into space. A huge role of the Artemis Mission is played by this technological advancement i.e. Deep Space Exploration system consisting of some very advanced systems.
The Rocket- Space Launch System
NASA, as sources reveal, is supposed to launch its massive rocket that will be part of a lot of Artemis missions and many other missions that the future holds, SLS or the Space Launch System, for the first time in February of 2022.
This rocket is said to be the most powerful rocket NASA has ever built and upon completion, it’s supposed to be designed to be more flexible and evolvable along with increasing the possibility of payloads and robotic scientific missions to the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter.
Space Launch System, being a super-heavy-lift vehicle that proves to be the only rocket capable of sending Orion, astronauts and cargo on a single mission further proving the point that it necessarily provides the foundation for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit.
Artemis will use at least one SLS each year until 2030.
The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, is lifted above the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The Spacecraft- Orion
NASA’s Orion is meant to be the spacecraft to take humans farther and on a deeper exploration of space than ever before. From transporting the crew into space to providing emergency abort capabilities, sustaining the crew during space travel, and lastly to allowing safe re-entry from deep space return velocities, Orion will serve its purpose as an exploration vessel for many missions to come.
Orion, to be launched at it’s targeted lift-off that is February 2022 is already mated with the powerful Space Launch System(SLS) or as it’s been now named mega-moon rocket.
As the plans leading up to this faithful development in the program, Artemis I SLS rocket was to launch an uncrewed Orion into Earth’s orbit putting it on a course for a lunar distant retrograde orbit, where it will go 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and 280,000 miles from Earth before coming home.
This flight test is crucial to the mission as it will exhibit the performance of the SLS rocket on its inaugural mission and acquire engineering data throughout before Orion returns on a high-speed Earth reentry at Mach 32, or 24,500 miles per hour. The top mission priority being here is to ensure the return i.e the high-speed lunar velocity reentry and a very needed test of heat shields.
It is obvious that Artemis I will be consisting of an uncrewed configuration and therefore wouldn’t consist of life support systems or any astronaut supporting elements but instead will have data gathering tools to verify performance and to compare estimated models with actual flight data.
Orion will surpass Apollo 13’s record for distance traveled from Earth in a spacecraft developed for humans and will travel an estimated distance of more than 1.4 million miles before returning to human habitat.
The Crew Module for Artemis I mission has been duly tested, assembled, and integrated with the European service module. The service module, built by ESA, provides most of the propulsion, power, and cooling systems for the crew module where astronauts will essentially live and work during future Artemis missions.
The Launch Team - Exploration Ground
Exploration Ground Systems is one of the three NASA programs based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. EGS was established to develop and operate the systems and facilities necessary to process and launch rockets and spacecraft during assembly, transport and launch. EGS’s mission is to transform the center from a historically government-only launch complex to a spaceport that can handle several different kinds of spacecraft and rockets—both government and commercial.
The Human Landing System
Concept image taken from NASA website
The Human Landing System is the final mode of transportation that will take astronauts to the lunar surface in the Artemis lunar exploration program. On early missions, the astronauts will live inside the pressurized crew cabin portion of the lander for up to a week.
NASA experts will work closely with these business partners to build their own human settlements, using decades of human space flight experience and commercial speed to achieve the Moon Landing of 2024.
The HLS program will also carry out improved development and risk reduction activities, work in tandem with strategic planning activities and contractors for the mission of 2024, and the maturity of the programs required for the construction of sustainable future structures.
The Lunar Gateway, however independent, is a vital part of the Artemis Mission too. A brief of Lunar Gateway was explained in the article Artemis Mission- Humans To The Moon Again.
NASA is planning an Artemis Base Camp concept that includes a modern lunar cabin, a rover, and even a mobile home.
For the first few missions, the HLS will double as lunar lodging, offering life support systems for a short crew stay on the moon. In the future, NASA envisions a fixed habitat at the Artemis Base Camp that can house up to four astronauts for a month-long stay.
“Betimes to the Moon, an ere long soon to Mars and beyond” as said previously is still an aspiration to be thought of as a daydream if these few developments were not in existence.
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