Space News: The Next Space Missions 

Madison Milla

November is an exciting month for space exploration fans! NASA and its partners will carry out three missions over the course of one week. Each mission, unique in its own purpose, will undergo a series of traditionally challenging steps to complete NASA’s ongoing goal: to explore, to advance, and to learn. 

In 1983, NASA partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to design and build state of the art environmental satellites. On November 10, 2022, NASA and NOAA will launch the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2), the third weather and climate satellite in the JPSS series. The JPSS-2 is designed to provide full global coverage twice a day once in orbit 512 miles above Earth. It will capture data that will improve weather forecasts and help researchers predict and prepare for climate change and other extreme events.  Attached to the JPSS-2, NASA will send up its Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), an inflatable heat shield that could be useful to robotic or crewed missions.

On November 16, NASA will launch Artemis 1, one of their most complex missions to date. For the first time in space history, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Artemis 1 will travel farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. Although this is an uncrewed mission, Artemis 1 will provide a foundation for NASA’s capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. While in space, the SLS rocket will separate from Orion and move past Earth’s orbit. Orion will then follow the path to orbit the Moon. After orbiting the Moon for approximately six days, operation teams will correct its trajectory in order for it to return to Earth. These actions simulate the next crewed Artemis mission that will need to successfully transport its team.

Finally, and certainly not least, NASA’s SpaceX CRS-26 Mission to the International Space Station will launch no earlier than November 18, 2022. This mission will send the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station to resupply it with food, oxygen, fuel, orbiter parts, and other equipment.

While each mission depends on the success of the other, the work of NASA and NOAA scientists and researchers, engineers, technicians, IT specialists, and many others, don’t go unnoticed. Live streams and updates can be found on the NASA website and the NASA TV channel. Happy watching, fellow space fans!