What is Artemis? Everything you need to know about NASA's new moon mission
NASA has embarked on a yearslong mission called Artemis that involves a multistage plan to send astronauts to the moon and beyond. The Artemis mission will culminate with landing the first woman and person of color on the moon.
This mission will prepare humanity for the long journey to Mars, and it will help us establish a sustainable lunar economy. NASA is working with international and commercial partners to carry out the mission.
What's the most recent Artemis update?
Why is it called Artemis?
On Dec. 11, NASA completed the first Artemis mission. Orion, the Artemis I spacecraft, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a successful 25.5-day mission around the moon. The Artemis I mission launched on Nov. 16 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, following several aborted launches due to technical issues and storms.
NASA sent the unmanned Orion spacecraft into orbit around the moon to test NASA's deep space exploration systems. At its farthest, Orion was a record-breaking 268,563 miles from Earth, surpassing the distance the Apollo 13 mission set in 1970.
NASA considers the Artemis I mission a success, given the immense amount of valuable data it produced related to Orion's communications, propulsion and navigation systems -- information that will help NASA and its partners prepare to send humans into space for the next Artemis missions.
From 1969 through 1972, the NASA Apollo program took humans to the moon. Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.
Why are we going back to the moon now?
NASA and its partners have made huge strides since the Apollo program, as demonstrated by the success of the International Space Station. Humans have continuously lived and worked aboard the ISS for two decades. The ISS, however, is just 250 miles above Earth. The moon, by contrast, is 250,000 miles away, while Mars is 140 million miles away.
If humans want to establish a longer-term presence beyond low Earth orbit (where the ISS is located), returning to the moon is the next logical step.
"There are many reasons to go back, or as you may have heard me say, go forward to the moon," then-NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote in 2019. "With Artemis, we're going to explore more of the moon than ever before, and we're planning to stay this time. We are traveling 250,000 miles to the moon to demonstrate new technologies, capabilities and business approaches needed for future exploration of Mars, which can be as far as 250 million miles away from home."
What are the goals of the Artemis mission?
In the broadest terms, the goals of Artemis are to enable scientific discovery, open up new economic opportunities, and inspire a new generation of scientists, technologists, and leaders.
By returning to the moon, NASA aims to find water and other resources that will support long-term space exploration. Along the way, the agency expects to learn more about the moon, Earth and the universe. Ultimately, establishing a presence on the moon will give NASA and its partners the knowledge and operational confidence necessary to make it to Mars.
Meanwhile, NASA's mission should create new economic opportunities on Earth and beyond. There's already a momentum behind a nascent space economy that, according to NASA leaders, could in 20 years take public and private missions beyond low Earth orbit. NASA aims to stimulate services and infrastructure development on the lunar surface and in cislunar space.
The space economy is already a $400 billion industry "and on the way to $1 trillion, and I suspect it'll get there faster than we think," said James Reuter, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA, earlier this year.
As for inspiring the next generation, there's definitely evidence that space exploration inspires young people to study science. This goal also explains why NASA is committed to sending the first woman and the first person of color to the moon.
"Our job at NASA is to do the things that are difficult, and to do the things that are right, and to motivate our base, which is our youth," NASA's chief astronaut, Reid Wiseman, recently said. "And right now, our country is a diverse and extremely rich country... We want every kid in America to look at our poster and say, 'Oh, I see myself in that... I can do that someday.'"
Taken from: https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-artemis-everything-you-need-to-know-about-nasas-moon-mission/
I think it's exciting to know that we, as a species, are trying to make things work in other planet or, in this case, in our moon.
ReplyDeleteI just have one question, From which government is the space?, Who will be the first person to claim space as theirs?, Are we going to pay taxes to go from one point in space to other? Just as in land.
If there's life in other planet, maybe it would be scary to encounter them
I think this is very interesting. I never imagined that I would be living in a time where we can expect to see people living outside of the Earth. Technology improves at an impressive rate right now, I would not be surprised if at some point you could decide to move to another planet with enough money. This reminds me of how older people say that they cannot understand modern society, maybe the cultural shock they have experienced is somewhat similar to the impression that the idea of living in another planet causes.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, if the mission is accomplished, it could be the startline of an age similar to all that space opera stories of science-fiction.
DeleteThough all of this sounds terrific, I feel like I must play the role of devil's advocate. Oftentimes, organizations such as NASA make decisions based on the needs of their government in order to make themselves feel important and worth looking at.
ReplyDeleteNot many people are privy to some harsh truths that plagued NASA during the 90's and early 2000's. During this time, NASA was in a pinch. Several other governmental organizations in the US felt like NASA was a waste of money and felt that tax money was better served in other places. For this very reason, NASA decided to use one of the best platform at their disposal for great advertisement: Hollywood. Two big movies came out, Armageddon and The Nucleus, which truly brought NASA to the forefront of people's radar. The space agency opened up some of their facilities to film directors and their crew in order to film such blockbusters, in which NASA played a pivotal role in saving the planet. But beyond appeasing the masses, these movies truly helped NASA stay afloat and kept tax money pouring non-stop.
Based on this and other examples, such as China demanding that any movies that are to be shown in their theaters portray them as the good guys and, in many cases, heroes (such as in Pacific Rim 2), I can't help but wonder if this is yet another stunt played by NASA in order to avoid getting drowned in world events. Perhaps I am wrong and this will truly help humanity make obscene advances in science and technology. Yet, I believe it is too soon to come to any conclusions.
Suhail Torga
*one of the best platforms
Delete*Armageddon and The Core
I really agree with all the USA being a kinda fraud and taking any means to earn money and reputation, mostly because when first NASA sent people to the moon it wasn't like there were trying to progress on human knowledge about the solar system or any of that, it was just a competition to see who was the “greatest nation” in the times of Cold War against the Soviet Union.
DeleteI really think it's important to take a moment to think if this just a kind of propaganda of the USA to keep the so much loved place of the best country in the world as they self-proclaimed
Personally, I think Artemis program has several scientific objectives, such as exploring the Moon's resources, conducting scientific experiments, and learning how to live and work on a different planet surface. The mission also has significant geopolitical and commercial implications, as it can enable international partnerships and open up opportunities for space exploration and commerce.
ReplyDeleteOverall, the Artemis program represents an exciting and ambitious effort to push the boundaries of human exploration and knowledge, and it will be interesting to see how it progresses in the coming years.
It is interesting that after more than 50 years of the first visit to the moon, humans want to go back, but this time a different goal.
ReplyDeleteNASA is trying to develop new technologies and test the already developed and that´s why they´re trying to reach the moon again; however, this time they do not want to just arrive, this mission has the purpose of exploring the moon and, in addition, find water. Moreover, they are preparing a future visit to Mars, the planet next earth, which is seen as the possible planet to live by humans.
In my opinion, the fact they want to habit Mars is something strange; nevertheless, humans are always trying to get over the limits. This mission is something interesting and we will see what happens in some years.
yeah, I think the moon can work as an experiment in order to see if people can adapt to different environments other than the earth, and that is something cool m8! Imagine people in the future living in mars
DeleteI think that this mission will define our future, this is a pretty important mission that will change humanity, mostly because it will allow researchers to see if people can live in different environments other than earth, and this way they can create new habitats. In a far far future, this will lead to the colonization of other planets, all depending on how far we can go!
ReplyDeleteYes, Enrique, but i think that going to the moon probably is not a good idea, because is just an artificial satellite without enough resources to provide the humanity with.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the Artemis NASA project marks an exciting and significant milestone in human space exploration, with the potential to inspire and benefit people all across the world for future generations. I have no doubt, that this is not going to be easy, but I am really excited to see how this will be developed.
ReplyDeleteSince the beginning of the space race during the Cold War, nations around the world started adding efforts to conquer the outer space. Nevertheless, sometimes, specially government organizations, tend to make up projects and efforts in order to remark the name and the power of their country. In other words, when the name of an entire nation is depending of the success or the failure of a project like this, there is no space for error because could suggest weakness for enemies.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this mission seems impressive and promising, nonetheless, despite the objective of the mission could be reachable, the success and some achievements could be covered by a slim veil of nationalism.
Going back to the moon surely sounds exiting and a logical first step if the main objective is to travel to mars. Nonetheless the space exploration at the moment seems like a waste of time and resources for many people, since our planet, our home, year by year gets worse, all thanks to the contamination and other causes. Now the space seems like a easy way out, leaving the planet behind to restablish in another, but is this going to be for all the population? or only for some lucky ones that have the resourses? Whitout a doubt the artemis mission is thrilling and huge step, but we can't just forget to take care of our planet.
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