Lift-off! Orion is on its way to the Moon, with 4 astronauts on board

NASA’s Artemis II mission set off for the Moon, taking humans towards the satellite for the first time in more than 50 years. Four astronauts have begun a ten-day mission during which they will circle the Moon, laying the foundations for putting humans on the lunar surface as early as 2028.

For the first time in more than 50 years, human beings set off for the Moon: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover e Christina Kochda NASA, e Jeremy Hansenfrom the Canadian Space Agency.

The four astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion capsule took off this April 1st, at 11:35 pm in Portugal, from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, for the long-awaited Artemis II mission, a ten day trip during which they will circle Earth’s natural satellite.

O countdown came to be interrupted for a few minutesto solve a last minute problem in the system that allows the launch to be aborted and the astronauts to be ejected if something goes wrong.

But finally, those responsible for each system were heard saying the usual “Booster, go”, “GNC, go”, “Range, go”, “All systems nominal”.

And finally… 10, 9, 8… booster ignition, and lift-off! The SLS rocket’s powerful engines roared, and Orion rose from the ground, surrounded by flames, into the sky.

A few minutes after launch, the two solid-fuel side thrusters separated from Orion, and the spacecraft designed by Boeing for NASA followed its trajectory, crossed the Kármán line — the limit that separates the Earth’s atmosphere from space — and left Earth’s orbiton the way to the Moon.

“Incredible view. We are seeing a beautiful moonrise“, said Wiseman, mission commander, for ship’s communication system — which, at around 00:32 this Thursday, almost an hour after launch, generated a chilling moment of suspense to anyone watching the live broadcast.

“Houston is not receiving communications from the spacecraft“, was heard several times, for a few minutes, in the Mission Control Center. It was almost a moment “”, but apparently the crew managed Reestablish ship communications.

Although the crew will not set foot on the lunar surface, the trip will help NASA prepare for Artemis IVa mission scheduled for 2028 that should allow a human, for the first time since 1972, to take another gigantic step for Humanity on lunar soil.

The Orion flight is analogous to the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, in which three astronauts orbited the Moon in preparation for future landings. The Artemis missions were named after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology, who was associated with the Moon, note a .

“Artemis II is the first act” of the rest of the program, said NASA administrator, Jared Isaacmanabout half an hour before takeoff, in a live. “No human has ever flown in Orion before, right? And we’re going to put it truly proof”.

The ship took off after a sunny and breezy afternoonto applause and shouts of enthusiasm from spectators in Florida, says . And it’s been a generation since we were able to applaud the brave heroes who soar into the sky towards our natural satellite, 384 thousand km away.

Orion, powered by the powerful rocket Space Launch System (SLS), will circle the Earth twice, and then make a passage around the Moontaking advantage of your gravity to gain momentum. It is possible in real time on the NASA website.

On April 6, astronauts will observe the hidden side of the Moon about 8 thousand kilometers away. At this distance, the star will appear to have similar dimensions to a basketball held at arm’s length, he explained. Jeff RadiganArtemis II chief flight director, at a press conference in September.

The crew, he added, will be able to go “further beyond the Moon than anyone has ever been.” The astronauts will have views of the lunar surface that no one has ever observed with their own eyes.

The launch finally took place after a series of postponements. The Artemis II launch window initially opened in early February, but was pushed back to March after it was detected liquid hydrogen leaks during a test supply; problems with the helium flow later pushed the mission back to April.

When astronauts arrive in the vicinity of the Moon, they will spend about three hours taking photos and collecting data on the geology of the far side, including impact craters and signs of ancient lava flows.

They will also pay attention to potential landing sites for future missionsthese Mark Clampindeputy administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, at a science and technology press conference in September.

Crew members will also participate in several studies on the impact of space on human health.

One of the experiments involves tissue samples from each astronaut placed on chips the size of a flash drive, which are carried aboard Orion and will help researchers understand how increased radiation and microgravity can affect human organs.

Additionally, each astronaut wears a wrist monitor to record sleep patterns, activity levels, interactions and well-being, and will have to lick a special paper to collect saliva samples, which could give clues about how the astronaut is doing. immune system responds in space.

The Artemis program was formally created in 2017when the Trump administration instructed NASA to return humans to the lunar surface, with the hopes of laying the groundwork for reaching the Red Planet.

The first mission of the program, the Artemis Iconsisted of a 25-day unmanned test flight of Orion and SLS. It was released in November 2022, after several years of delay.

The Artemis II timeline was also extended by several years: the mission was initially scheduled for 2024. The postponement was largely due to engineers’ work to solve problems in Orion detected during Artemis 1.

The main objective of this first mission was to demonstrate that the capsule’s heat shield would resist re-entry into the Earth’s atmospherea phase that exposes the ship to scorching temperatures of up to around 2,760 degrees Celsius.

But when investigators inspected the shield after ditching, found unexpected damage. During Artemis II, Orion will follow a different trajectory on its return to Earth, which, according to NASA, will reduce the time spent in extreme temperatures and avoid the same problem.

If all goes according to plan with Artemis II and the new version of Artemis III, the agency intends to try carry out up to two manned landings in 2028with the first expected to occur near the enigmatic lunar south pole.

In the future, NASA plans to launch Artemis missions with an approximate cadence of ten in ten months and establish a base camp on the Moon during the 2030s, an objective that, despite everything, still seems like a science fiction scenario to us — even though they have already a few decades passed since “Space 1999”.