NASA wants to make science fiction a reality with Artemis mission | Abroad

At a press conference held Wednesday afternoon at NASA headquarters in Washington, those involved ran out of superlatives to describe how important Artemis 1 is, especially in preparation for what’s to come in the years to come. In fact, Artemis 1 isn’t even an appetizer, but more of an amuse-bouche – to make the world tasty for what it’s all about. The eyes are mainly on the manned Artemis III moon mission of, it is planned, 2025.

Rocket

“We are going to make the impossible possible,” beamed NASA CEO Bill Nelson. “We have the most powerful rocket ever built. Our eyes are no longer focused on the near future, but on everything that is far beyond. Apollo (NASA’s space program to land humans on the moon between 1961 and 1972) inspired the world, delivered a generation. But now there is an Artemis generation.”

It’s certainly not chatter in space: for the first time in 53 years, people have to feather on the dusty surface for a week. The program includes four moonwalks and rides in a rover, up to fifteen kilometers from the lander. Two other astronauts remain in orbit in the Orion pod.

Diversity

As is inevitable in this day and age, Nelson also emphasized diversity, specifically stating that eventually the first woman and first person of color will go to the moon. In that light, the death of African-American Nichelle Nichols, who played the role of Uhuru in the popular science fiction television series from the 1960s, was also considered. “She will smile,” said NASA’s Bhavya Lal, who has Indian roots of her own. It was previously announced – apart from the Artemis mission – that actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in Star Trek, is going into space. “Science fiction becomes reality.”

The first test must collect a lot of data and check systems, crucial for the next step. NASA is on track with this. A few weeks ago there was still doubt whether the end of this month was feasible. The SLS rocket will be launched to the moon with an Orion capsule. The Netherlands helped build the spaceship, which will remain in orbit around the moon for six days. Orion will fly up to 500,000 kilometers from Earth, another 89,000 kilometers beyond the moon. In the 1970s, Apollo did not get any further than 400,000. The test will last a total of 42 days, before the capsule eventually crashes into the Pacific Ocean.

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