NASA announces Artemis Plan to land first woman, next man on moon in 2024

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NASA announces Artemis Plan to land first woman, next man on moon in 2024

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Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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Key points – 

1. NASA has shared an update to its Artemis program, including the latest Phase 1 plan to land the first woman and the next man on the surface of the Moon in 2024.
2. In its formal plan, NASA captures Artemis progress to date, identifying the key science, technology and human missions, as well as the commercial and international partnerships that will ensure we continue to lead in exploration and achieve our ambitious goal to land astronauts on the Moon.

Important details – 

1. The agency's powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and the Orion spacecraft are closer than ever to their first integrated launch. The spacecraft is complete while the core stage and its attached four engines are undergoing a final series of tests that will culminate in a critical hot fire test this fall.
2. Following a successful hot fire test, the core stage will be shipped to the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with the spacecraft.
3. NASA will launch an SLS and an Orion together on two flight tests around the Moon to check performance, life support, and communication capabilities. The first mission - known as Artemis I - is on track for 2021 without astronauts, and Artemis II will fly with crew in 2023.
4. In 2024, Artemis III will be humanity's return to the surface of the Moon - landing the first astronauts on the lunar South Pole.
5. As detailed in the agency's concept for surface sustainability earlier this year, an incremental build-up of infrastructure on the surface will follow later this decade, allowing for longer surface expeditions with more crew.
6. That concept calls for an Artemis Base Camp that would include new rovers, power systems, habitats, and more on the surface for long-term exploration of the Moon.
7. Throughout the Artemis program, robots and humans will search for, and potentially extract, resources such as water that can be converted into other usable resources, including oxygen and fuel.
8. By fine-tuning precision landing technologies as well as developing new mobility capabilities, astronauts will travel farther distances and explore new regions of the Moon.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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