- NASA’s Artemis Mission looks forward to sending an uncrewed Orion capsule to the Moon.
- The main aim of the mission would be to test Orion’s capability to reach the Moon and safely return to Earth.
- If successful, the Orion capsule will launch next with a crew of astronauts to further research on the Moon.
Our mission to visit the Moon started way back in the 1900s with a vision that not many believed was achievable. At a time when even aeroplanes were a relatively new phenomenon and the fact that a human could touch the sky was just being digested by the general mass, visiting the Moon was a distant dream and a hard climb for the scientific world.
Since then, the achievements made down the lane are truly remarkable. At 02:56 GMT on 21 July 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. He stepped out of the Apollo 11 lunar module and onto the Moon’s surface, in an area called the ‘Sea of Tranquility.
Ever since efforts to establish humans as an interplanetary species have been ongoing and characteristically fuelled in recent years.
The colonization of space
In the past couple of years, the world has witnessed a true boom in the space tourism sector. We have examples of various billionaires such as Amazon ex-CEO Jeff Bezos and Virgin Group magnate Sir Richard Branson who took novel commercial space flights.
A truly unforgettable mention goes to SpaceX’s collaboration with NASA that allowed four untrained civilians to go to space known as the Inspiration4 mission. Elon Musk’s firm set a milestone while hosting this mission meant to amass charity for the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and Research Centre.
The world’s richest man’s dream of letting humans colonize Mars is no secret and his move ensured a boost in the future of space tourism and the dream that soon humans can become a space-faring species.
All that being said, NASA’s new mission to reach the Moon and settle there, could be a major boost and further push our chances of discovering the unending space and even more.
NASA has released a statement where they said that humans are very much on their track to go to the Moon and land on the surface to conduct scientific research.
The Orion Lunar spacecraft program which is the frontrunner here is led by scientist Howard Hu who went on to say that by the year 2030 this humongous feat could be achieved.
The SLS or Space Launch System rocket has been launched by NASA which has sent the Orion Spacecraft on its way toward the Moon.
This launch had previously faced a lot of difficulties and had been delayed multiple times due to various reasons. Finally, it has become successful and in doing so has set NASA’S Artemis mission in motion.
This mission is highly significant in the history of mankind as it will land humans back on the moon after almost a huge gap of 50 years. In our quest to conquer Mars, the Lunar missions had taken a backseat and that is about to change for good and on a drastic scale.
Long-lasting consequences of the Artemis mission
The main aim of this mission is to test whether the capsule Orion can go to the Moon and bring it back safely to Earth. Though the Orion is without a crew this time around, if all things go according to plan then a team of astronauts will be in the capsule when it circles the celestial body.
Another major significance of this mission is the fact that on the successful return of the capsule, a team of astronauts including a female astronaut will be sent to the Moon. The last time a female astronaut landed on the surface of the Moon was back in 1972.
The mission of these astronauts will be to land near the moon’s south pole. They will spend a week there and try to study the terrain and different conditions on the surface of the celestial body.
The crew will also be tasked to look for water around the area. If this extremely important life-sustaining liquid is found, that will be a major boost to not only our knowledge about the surface geology of the Moon but also to fuel the rocket on its journey back to our home planet.
This could very well lay the basis of permanent human settlements with further plans for mining and other scientific activities. If this mission is successful then mankind will truly be on the brink of a historic achievement.
