NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor gestures from inside a bus before the launch of the Soyuz ... [+]
NASA’s recent Moon program, Artemis will land the first American woman or the next man on the Moon by 2024. The goal of NASA’s Artemis program is to explore as much of the Moon’s surface as possible and create sustainable missions to the Moon by 2028. The aim of the program is not only to learn new information about the Moon, but use that information as a stepping stone to get to Mars. This program is part of revival of the American space program and aims to establishment of human presence on the Moon with sustainable yearly missions by 2028. It is interesting to note that the program is named after goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology, Artemis, and is the twin sister of Apollo, tying it back to NASA’s Moon mission of the 1960s that landed the first person on the Moon. One of the goals of the program is use the Moon’s surface as an engineering field of study, a place where robust engineering technology and scientist can practice living in space, so as to take the next step of going to Mars. The reasoning behind this program is that in order to head towards Mars, scientists need to learn how the human does with long duration spaceflight, as well as how to built habitats in space, and to learn to live and work on a planetary surface. In addition, a goal of the program is also to show the wider public the innovation of STEM and hope to inspire more careers in STEM, encouraging a generation of STEM leaders.
The Artemis program is split into parts to ensure human safety, as safety is one of primary concerns for space exploration. First the program will launch Artemis I, which is an uncrewed flight to test the Space Rocket and Orion spacecraft together, followed by the Artemis II mission, which will have a test flight with the crew, and finally Artemis III, which will the crew on the Moon by 2024.
NASA employee holds the official Artemis mission patch at NASA Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio ... [+]
One interesting part of the program is that it aims to explore the South Pole of the Moon. You may ask why is the South Pole interesting? Well, because it involves water! We know that here on Earth water serves an important function in our daily lives and it is something we cannot live without. On the Moon, scientist want to understand the water history of the Moon. The South Pole of the Moon is interesting because there are some areas that have the sunlight and some areas that never receive the sunlight, and those are the areas that have the water. Water is made up of two elements, oxygen and hydrogen. On the Moon, water can be broken up into those elements, one can be used for rocket fuel and oxygen can be used breathe. NASA’s plan involves having commercial partners who will provide landers and rowers, as well as other scientific instruments that will help scientists understand how the Earth and Moon evolved together. The goal is to understand the Moon, Mars, and the Earth, as well as their differences and similarities. One difference between Mars and Moon is the size. Another, is that sound waves do not travel on the Moon, while they do travel on Mars. This is because sound waves require a medium to travel in, but around the Moon there is no air or atmosphere so there is no sound. Such explorations of space will allow scientist to better understand the ability for human life to exist on different planets.
Life will surely be different on the Moon than on Earth and one perhaps we cannot imagine yet. When Serena Auon Chancellor was asked what she missed most about the Earth when she was in space she replied: “I miss feeling the earth, the wind, I miss the rain, the smell of the Earth, the smell of the grass, these are things you just can’t imitate in space.” So cheers to the future!
#News | https://sciencespies.com/news/nasa-aims-to-land-the-first-woman-on-the-moon-by-2024/
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