The NASA Artemis 1 mission’s pre-launch preparations are progressing very well. In fact, things went so smoothly that the organization moved forward the launch date for their Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. NASA revealed in a blog update that the Orion spacecraft will arrive at the launch pad two days early.
Since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, Artemis 1 is NASA’s first lunar mission since LADEE in 2013–2014 and the organization’s first step toward sending astronauts back to the moon. The construction of an Artemis Base Camp on the moon’s surface and a Gateway in lunar orbit are its two main objectives. On Artemis missions, people will transition between Orion and the lunar lander at The Gateway, a space station in lunar orbit. To provide astronauts with a place to live and work in the interim, the agency will construct an outpost on the moon’s surface. “A contemporary lunar cabin, a rover, and a mobile home” will all be part of the Artemis Base Camp.
In a statement, NASA stated that they planned to move SLS and the Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B at the spaceport on Thursday, August 18. On Wednesday, August 17, starting at 6 PM EDT, the entire ceremony will also be live-streamed on the NASA Kennedy YouTube account.
NASA is still planning to launch Artemis 1 on August 29. Backup dates, however, are September 2 and 5. If everything goes according to plan, the Orion spacecraft will orbit the moon for a few weeks before crashing into the Pacific Ocean.
Girls Too Can Travel to Space
The Artemis expedition distinguishes out for its commitment to involving women in every aspect of the operation. Even if its commitment to diversity and inclusion is worth discussing on its own, for the purposes of this discussion, I want to focus on the Orion capsule’s female mannequins.
In the past, mannequins with adult male body types and dimensions were utilized for crash tests. However, women are statistically shorter and smaller than men, which has an impact on how well safety restraints fit. Consequently, research demonstrate that female bodies are nearly twice as likely to sustain injuries in collisions even if cars are safer than before. Therefore, it is crucial that NASA particularly tests out its personal protection equipment (PPE) on a range of body proportions.
NASA is deploying two female-bodied mannequins for the Artemis 1 mission to test safety gear made for women. Radiation detectors will be worn by both mannequins. Additionally, one of the mannequins is donning an AstroRad protection vest.
They are named Helga and Zohar, and despite taking the same journey, NASA explained in a blog post that “Zohar will wear the AstroRad vest, whereas Helga will not. Because women are often more sensitive to the effects of radiation from space, female forms were chosen.
Scheduled Early — For Now
The ambitious series of lunar missions begins with Artemis 1. When the second mission, Artemis II, launches into lunar orbit in May 2024, humans will board in place of mannequins. Additionally, Artemis III will land on the moon some time in 2025, while Artemis II will continue to orbit the moon.
The Space Launch System has experienced numerous delays since its commencement in 2012, despite the fact that it is currently two days ahead of schedule. In addition, the entire SLS project has come under fire for costing $20 billion, despite having a highly successful nationwide jobs program. But NASA is still moving on with its lunar missions and expanding toward a significant commercial presence in low-Earth orbit.
For more than ten years, NASA has encouraged and supported private and academic space initiatives. The International Space Station won’t last forever, thus they started their commercial crew and commercial cargo flights. The ISS would require a replacement, which was evident even before Russia began to terrorize the world’s aerospace industry. But as mankind expands, we’ll also need to make a stop on the moon. The initial stage of that procedure is the Artemis flights.
