The new space race: man and his desire to return to the Moon

When in January we described 2022 as a lunar year – because of the variety of space missions to the moon–, we leave for a future occasion the details of the most important mission: Artemis.

The program Artemisled by the POT in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and aerospace industries, is the most complex and ambitious space program to date. This year the missions begin, and they will continue for at least a decade.

The first flight is scheduled for the end of June, depending on the results of tests of the rocket and other equipment, atmospheric conditions, solar conditions and other variables. The mission will carry an Orion capsule, with capacity for five astronauts, who on this first trip will go without a crew, but loaded with instruments.

as technology has changed a lot in the 50 years since the last mission Apollo.

machines and humans

(Cube Sats) which are around one cubic meter in size. The Orion capsule will orbit the Moon for almost three weeks measuring, among other things, the radiation that a crew member would receive during that time. He will then return to Earth.

The satellites will remain orbiting the Moon and perform a series of experiments. Among other things, they will search for hydrogen and ice, invaluable resources to produce water and fuel for future missions and bases to be established on the surface.

“The lunar presence will eventually include asteroid detection systems that will help protect Earth.”

A subsequent mission will carry components for a space station that will orbit the Moon. This will be called the Gateway (Portal) and will serve as support for operations, a preparation and return point for lunar landings, and a platform for experiments and observations. .

will also be sent Viper robotic vehicle (Viper), so called because it will sink its teeth into the lunar surface, taking and analyzing samples to check if there is water and what other resources the lunar soil contains in different areas.

The manned mission Artemis II is scheduled for 2023, but is not expected to descend above the Moon. The objective will be to test the maneuverability to connect with modules, safety and operation of the equipment during 10 days in flight. It will also carry equipment that it will deposit on the surface, “preparing the ground” for Artemis IIIwhich will bring astronauts to the surface in 2024, including the first woman to land on the Moon.

The most powerful

The cornerstone of missions Artemis is the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Although not as tall as the Saturn V that propelled the missions Apollo (98m vs. 109m), . It is 15% more powerful than Saturn V, with an initial thrust equivalent to 4 million kilograms. That power can draw from the gravitational attraction the 27 tons of cargo that each flight will carry – greater capacity than the space shuttles, which carried a maximum of 24 tons.

This month live tests of the rocket have been carried out, in its tower in Cape Canaveral, in order to know the capacity of the main engines to contain and evacuate more than 700,000 gallons of oxygen and hydrogen in liquid state. As we saw on a previous page, combining oxygen with hydrogen releases a huge amount of energy (a clean burning process that produces water as a byproduct).

To increase initial propulsion, the rocket will carry two side-mounted engines with solid fuel, which it will jettison over the ocean after the first few minutes of ascent.

moon bases

One of the goals of Artemis is to initiate a frequent human presence on the Moon. This would be achieved by building lunar bases. Its objective would be scientific: the study of the Moon, the study of the Earth and the Sun, and space observation without atmospheric interference.

, and materials to build closed and protected spaces. They will also have a vehicle and equipment for scientific studies and recycling liquids, organic waste and other materials.

The bases will probably be located near the lunar south pole. An important consideration is the risk of meteor impacts: without the protection of an atmosphere, the surface is constantly bombarded by meteorites.

“One of the goals of the Artemis mission is to initiate a frequent human presence on the Moon.”

The POT has a team of scientists that has spent decades monitoring the lunar “environment” with equipment on the Moon and ground-based telescopes. They have calculated the risk.

Every day they fall on the Moon about a hundred rocks the size of a ping pong ball, which impact with a force equivalent to 3 kilos of dynamite. Every four years a rock about 2.5 m in diameter falls at a speed of more than 70,000 km/h and can impact with the force of a thousand tons of dynamite.

Larger impacts, like the asteroids that gave rise to the lunar seas –Plains of solidified lava where the Earth landed more than 50 years ago. apollo 11–, occur once every billion years or more. However, a meteorite of just over 1 millimeter can pierce an astronaut’s suit, causing loss of pressure and oxygen. Because of this, the bases will likely include special armor and be in a less exposed region.

an active presence

Aside from scientific studies, the lunar presence will eventually include asteroid detection systems that will help protect future astronauts and Earth.

It will also serve to produce fuel and manufacture components for ships that will fly between the orbital portal and the surface, and eventually larger ships that will be able to take off from there into outer space, without requiring the necessary power to escape Earth’s gravity.

The dreams of Jules Verne and Arthur C. Clarke are becoming more and more a reality every day.