{"id":36048,"date":"2022-09-15T14:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T14:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=36048"},"modified":"2022-09-21T10:23:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T10:23:50","slug":"artemis-i-takes-aim-at-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/2022\/09\/15\/artemis-i-takes-aim-at-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis I takes aim at the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
BULLETIN <\/span><\/h5>\n\n

Artemis I takes aim at the Moon<\/h2>\n\n

Efforts to get the test mission off the ground hit last-minute snags <\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Waiting game: excitement around Artemis I\u2019s launch was tempered by last-minute technical concerns <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

At long last, <\/strong>NASA is ready to begin its first foray towards the Moon in 50 years with the launch of Artemis I. The mission is an uncrewed test of the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy launch vehicle and the Orion crew module that will carry future crews to the Moon. But will it make its flight? The initial launch on 29 August was scrubbed after a problem was found on SLS\u2019s Engine 3. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t launch until it\u2019s right,\u201d said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. \u201cI think that this is illustrative that this is a complicated machine. You don\u2019t want to light the candle until it\u2019s ready to go.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The next launch attempt was on 3 September at 18:17 GMT, after our magazine went to print, with a second on 5 September. If the launch has proceeded, then Orion should now be in lunar orbit. At closest approach, it will come within around 100km of the Moon\u2019s surface, before travelling out to 64,000km from the far side, beating the previous distance record set by Apollo 13 by 48,000km. On board, two female-bodied model torsos will test the effects of deep-space radiation on women for the first time. They\u2019ll be joined by a UK \u2018astronaut\u2019 \u2013 a Shaun the Sheep puppet. <\/p>\n\n

Orion will return to Earth, reentering the atmosphere at around 40,000km\/h, using aerobraking and a series of parachutes to slow to 32km\/h when it splashes down. The mission will last 35 to 42 days \u2013 far longer than any other past human lunar missions or any of the planned future crewed Artemis flights. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe are testing and stressing the spacecraft in a way that you would never do with a human crew on board. That is the purpose of a test flight,\u201d says Nelson. www.nasa.gov<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

\n\n
Comment by Chris Lintott<\/strong><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Seeing the giant SLS rocket stacked and ready for launch is thrilling, like nothing we\u2019ve seen since the last Saturn V missions in the 1970s. For the first time in years there\u2019s an exciting, ambitious goal that NASA looks set to meet. <\/p>\n\n

Yet each SLS launch will cost a cool $2.2 billion, putting a limit on how much they can use their new rocket. So famous is Saturn V that it\u2019s hard to remember it only flew 13 times. If SLS gets anywhere near that total, I will be very surprised. <\/p>\n\n

If plans for a presence on the Moon do happen, they\u2019ll rely on more economical, reusable, rockets like SpaceX\u2019s Starship than on SLS, which will \u2013 if we\u2019re lucky \u2013 be a stepping stone on the way to exploring the Solar System. <\/em><\/p>\n\n

Chris Lintott co-presents The Sky at Night <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photos: NASA\/BEN SMEGELSKY <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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