Artemis 2: The US begins the countdown to return to the Moon amid doubts in regards to the danger to its astronauts | Science | EUROtoday

The United States house company has begun the method to launch the primary manned mission to the Moon in half a century. The resolution coincides with an unprecedented disaster: an unspecified medical downside will pressure the crew of the International Space Station to be evacuated within the coming days. This change of plans coincides in dates with the preparations to ship the 4 crew members of the Artemis 2 mission to the Moon, whereas some astronauts warn of alleged security failures within the Orion house capsule, and lift the specter of a repeat of the worst deadly accidents in latest historical past, equivalent to these of the Challengerhe Columbia or the Apollo 1.

“We are getting closer to Artemis 2, with the move to the launch pad practically around the corner,” stated Lori Glaze, appearing affiliate administrator of NASA. “We still have important steps left on our path to launch and the safety of the crew will remain our top priority at all times,” he added.

Artemis 2 is a check mission that may take the 4 chosen ones – Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch (mission specialist) and Jeremy Hansen, from the Canadian Space Agency, additionally a specialist – on a spherical journey by which they’ll orbit the Moon as soon as after which return to Earth about 10 days later. It would be the first manned mission to check the SLS rocket, the most important constructed by NASA for the reason that time of the Apollo missions half a century in the past, and the Orion house capsule.

NASA has been working beneath monumental stress since Donald Trump’s authorities determined to advance the launch of the mission to February 6, a number of months forward of schedule. In half, it’s an try to divert consideration from delaying Artemis 3 till a minimum of 2028, with the chance that China may land astronauts on the satellite tv for pc earlier than the America the Trump.

On Artemis 2, the principle reason behind sleeplessness is the thermal defend of the Orion capsule, which protects the ship and its crew throughout entry into the Earth’s environment, when temperatures of greater than 2,700 levels are reached exterior.

The unmanned Artemis 1 mission, launched in 2022, revealed that the ship’s thermal coating was worn greater than NASA simulation fashions had predicted. Two years later, an evaluation by the company’s inspector basic introduced new consideration to this problem and its potential affect on crew security.

The company has determined to maneuver ahead after a gathering that passed off final week between the brand new head of NASA, Jared Isaacman, and specialists from inside and outdoors the group. One of probably the most crucial current at that assembly was astronaut Charles Camarda, who nonetheless thinks that Artemis 2 mustn’t fly as it’s at present designed.

Camarda was one of many crew members of the primary shuttle flight after the accident. Columbiawhich disintegrated throughout re-entry into the environment in 2003, killing all seven crew members. The catastrophe was exactly as a result of failures within the warmth defend, a element by which Camarda specializes. The astronaut sees in at the moment’s NASA “the precise behaviors used to assemble the chance and flight justification that prompted the accidents of the Challenger [en 1986] and of Columbia [2003]”They use the tools inappropriately and then claim that the results are “conservative,” he wrote on the social network Linkedin.

NASA had the option of replacing the coating with the one that will fly on the Artemis 3 mission, which will take four astronauts to land on the Moon in 2028, and which is different from the current one. But the configuration of the Artemis 2 and the schedule set have influenced the decision to be different: change the angle of entry of the ship into the atmosphere to minimize the possibility of the shield jumping and endangering the crew.

Another big unknown is the behavior of the Orion capsule’s environmental system, which among other functions provides oxygen to the crew during the trip. This system is part of the Service Module that the European Space Agency has designed together with European companies for the Orion capsule. This environmental and life support system (ECLSS) has not been fully tested in flight, especially the system responsible for providing breathing air, which represents another twist to the potential risks of this trip.

On Friday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, recently confirmed in his position after being removed by Trump for his ties to Elon Musk, announced that the agency is going to retire the current crew of the International Space Station (ISS) prematurely due to one of the astronauts suffering from a health problem.

The agency has not revealed who it is or what illness he is suffering from, although it has assured that the affected person is stable. It is the first time that this situation has occurred, which increases the pressure on the agency to fit in the evacuation flight and the relief flight to try to ensure that the space platform does not become uninhabited, which would set a bad historical precedent since it was inaugurated a quarter of a century ago. Isaacman assured that this situation does not affect the current launch schedule of the Artemis 2, which could happen in just three weeks.

To arrive on time for its first launch date, NASA will begin this Saturday placing the SLS rocket on the take-off platform, a huge device almost 100 meters long and weighing more than 2,500 tons. Although it is slightly smaller than the mythical Saturn V that first took astronauts to the Moon half a century ago, its power is greater. The journey of this colossus from the assembly halls to take-off platform 39B, about four kilometers, will take up to 12 hours.

The Artemis 2 presents overwhelming technical challenges. The Orion capsule alone has greater than 300,000 elements that should be in good situation. This identical weekend, NASA needed to evaluate two elements that weren’t in enough situation. The slightest mistake can cease the countdown and delay the mission. If all of the methods are in good situation, on the finish of the month the primary check of the rocket shall be carried out with all of the gasoline loaded. There shall be a number of simulated countdown assessments and at last, the mission administration staff will meet to find out if all elements are prepared for flight. The first alternative for takeoff is dizzyingly shut: February 6, in lower than a month.