The Artemis Program
by Patrick Yates, first year Degree Apprentice, EPIX and Manchester Metropolitan University
Photo of Orion, part of the Artemis Program, courtesy of NASA.
Since I was young I have been very interested in space and in what is out there.
Artemis is the name of NASA’s program to once again send people to the moon, to explore more of the moon and to be able to collaborate with commercial and international partners to establish a longer term presence on the moon.
The Artemis program is the next step in human exploration of space – sending people to live on the moon, and to learn more about our biggest satellite. In some ways this can be seen as the first step to us becoming a space faring civilisation, which I see as very exiting.
NASA will be creating a base camp on the surface of the moon and using a Human Landing System to be the final mode of transportation that will take astronauts to the moon’s surface. There will also be a spaceship in the orbit of the moon that the astronauts will take to and from the Orion and the lander. The Orion is the shuttle that will take people up to the moon. The aim is to collect data and learn more about the moon and space than we have been able to before.
Base camp will be a place to give astronauts a place to live while working on the moon. The plans that NASA has for it include a modern lunar cabin, a rover for the moon and a mobile home. Once the program is fully underway NASA plans for the astronauts to be able to stay on the moon for up to two months at a time.
Before the camp is built the astronauts will have to carry out week-long expeditions on the surface of the moon.They’ll work all day in the newly designed space suits that allow them to have very good mobility while safely being outside on the moon.
The rocket that will be taking astronauts back to the moon is the Artemis 1 SLS (Space Launch System) which, as of now, is the most powerful rocket that has ever been built. It is capable of helping Orion reach a speed of 25,000 mph and sending more than 27 metric tons into the orbit of the moon.
The first mission of the Artemis program will be to test the Space Launch System and the Orion space craft by sending it around the moon unmanned. The Artemis 2 mission will be the first manned flight sending people in the Orion spacecraft around the moon. This will take place in 2024 and finally the Artemis missions will continue to send manned missions on and around the moon for many years to come.
Read more about the exciting Artemis Program on NASA’s Artemis website.
