NASA Works On The Final Preparations For Artemis I
It has been half a century since humans stepped foot on the Moon. This milestone was one of the biggest achievements in human history and provided a host of invaluable information, samples, and much more. Now in 2022, NASA is continuing to work towards not only returning humans to the surface but setting up a more permanent presence.
Over the past few months, we have watched the agency make progress towards this goal in multiple ways. This included the launch of CAPSTONE expected to provide more information on Gateway’s orbit, SLS’s wet dress rehearsal, and more. In the last few days, the agency has finished some of the final preparations before moving the launch vehicle to the pad later this month.
Specifically, these preparations included High Bay 3 Platform E being retracted meaning the majority of the platforms are now retracted. Some of the remaining platforms will be retracted over the next few days. Here I will go more in-depth into some of the recent updates from NASA, what exactly the agency has been working on, and when we should expect to see SLS take off for the first time.
Recent Updates
As NASA’s first launch attempt for Artemis I approaches, teams are ahead of schedule to complete final checks and closeouts of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA is targeting launch on Aug. 29 during a two-hour launch window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT, with backup opportunities on Sept. 2 and 5. A successful launch on Aug. 29 would result in a mission duration of approximately 42 days, with a targeted Orion splashdown on Oct. 10.
As of right now, teams are retracting the VAB platforms that provide access to the rocket and spacecraft after engineers completed installing thermal blankets on the interim cryogenic propulsion stage around the launch vehicle stage adapter. Technicians also replaced the engine section flight doors of the rocket’s core stage. Final closeout inspections are complete on those sections and they are ready for flight. On the 212-foot-tall core stage, teams started flight closeouts inspections. Coming up, engineers will test the flight termination system elements in the intertank of the core stage and the forward skirts of the solid rocket boosters before SLS rolls out to the pad for launch. Launch and flight controllers, along with support personnel across NASA centers, completed their final launch countdown simulation ahead of the mission. The team has conducted many launch and flight simulations to prepare for Artemis I.
Technicians also finished replacing the inflatable seal that sits between the mobile launcher’s crew access arm and Orion’s launch abort system and crew module to prevent anything from the outside environment getting inside the capsule. Teams have extended the crew access arm and are conducting final powered testing and installing the “passengers” that are part of the MARE investigation before closing the hatch ahead of rolling out to the launch pad, currently scheduled for Aug. 18. In addition, on the 5th, NASA tweeted saying, “Commander Moonikin Campos is secured in a seat inside the #Artemis I @NASA_Orion crew module atop the SLS rocket. Commander Moonikin and the other purposeful passengers are collecting data on what astronauts will be experiencing on future @NASAArtemis missions to the Moon!” This included an image of the dummy being installed inside Orion.
While the dummy may seem a bit silly, they actually have a very important purpose. As NASA leads the way for human exploration at the Moon and beyond, space radiation is one of the biggest hazards crews face. In 2018, NASA signed an agreement with the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for an experiment to test the AstroRad radiation protection vest on Artemis I, the first flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The investigation, called the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), will provide valuable data on radiation levels during missions to the Moon while testing the effectiveness of the new vest. Artemis missions at the Moon will pave the way for human exploration of Mars.
Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic shielding protect us from most of the radiation in the universe, including radiation from our Sun. When astronauts leave Earth, they’re exposed to the full spectrum of radiation present in deep space. The Artemis I mission will not carry crew, but two identical manikin torsos equipped with radiation detectors. They will fly aboard Orion during the three-week mission, traveling about 280,000 miles from Earth and thousands of miles beyond the Moon. The manikins, called phantoms, are manufactured from materials that mimic human bones, soft tissues, and organs of an adult female. Their names are Helga and Zohar and, despite sharing the trip, their missions will be different – Zohar will wear the AstroRad vest, while Helga will not. Female forms were chosen because women typically have greater sensitivity to the effects of space radiation, but the AstroRad vest is designed to protect both men and women.
The phantoms have a three-centimeter grid embedded throughout the torsos that will enable scientists to map internal radiation doses to areas of the body that contain critical organs. With two identical torsos, scientists will be able to determine how well the new vest might protect crew from solar radiation, while also collecting data on how much radiation astronauts might experience inside Orion on a lunar mission – conditions that cannot be recreated on Earth. Orion was designed to protect both humans and hardware during radiation events on Artemis missions. For example, in the event of a solar flare, Orion’s crew can take cover in the central part of the crew module, between the floor and the heat shield, using the stowage bags on board to improve shelter. However, the crew may have to stay in such a shelter for more than a day. With a protective vest to help block solar energetic particles, crew could continue working during critical mission activities in spite of a solar storm.
Orion will also have different types of radiation sensors on board to record both the peak level of radiation exposure during the flight, as well as radiation levels throughout the mission. Researchers can then compare the data with mission telemetry to reveal where and when the radiation was encountered. While the AstroRad vest is designed primarily to protect against solar energetic particles that are ejected from the sun during a solar eruption, researchers are also developing and evaluating ways to shield crew from galactic cosmic rays, another type of radiation that comes from all over the galaxy and is more challenging to protect against. With the data from MARE and other sensors, NASA and its partners will improve their ability to prepare for, and limit the effects of, radiation exposure as human beings travel farther into space on longer missions. Reducing the risks due to radiation exposure is important for missions that could last as long as three months at the Gateway outpost in lunar orbit, and future missions to Mars, currently estimated to be a three year round-trip journey.
Artemis Future
All of which is in preparation for future human missions to the surface. The Artemis III mission will be the first human mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st Century, and will build on the legacy of Apollo to usher in the modern era of human exploration and development in deep space. The lunar surface is an ideal location to answer fundamental planetary science questions. In the 50 years since humans last visited the Moon, new advances arising from robotic lunar missions, reanalysis of older data, modeling, and sample analysis have produced dramatic results and new questions about planetary volcanism, volatiles, impact processes, tectonics, and the lunar environment.
However, before this launch, Artemis I, formerly Exploration Mission-1, will be the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. During this flight, the spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown. It will travel 280,000 miles from Earth, thousands of miles beyond the Moon over the course of about a four to six-week mission. Orion will stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and return home faster and hotter than ever before.
Conclusion
For many years now we have watched NASA make progress toward returning humans to the surface. Thankfully we are seeing some significant milestones being reached with the Space Launch System and more. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.