Posted by When it comes to having fun and getting a good time, our “world” offers us many options. For example, you can access thousands of games right now by opening an account on the Verde casino site. But as human beings, our only purpose in this world is not to have fun: we need to turn our eyes up and start thinking about the colonization of space as well. NASA’s latest Artemis 1 mission could be one of the first steps to making that dream a reality. Below, we talk about everything you need to know about this project and why it could be the start of a new space era.
What Is Artemis 1 Mission?
The “Artemis 1” mission constitutes the first step of Artemis, which is actually a very wide-ranging project. In November 2022, the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At the tip of the rocket, there was a spacecraft called “Orion”. The rocket was sent into space for a 42-day journey: It was planned to orbit the moon and return to Earth. It would travel a total of 1.3 million miles and land in the ocean. This happened on December 11, 2022: The Orion space shuttle successfully landed in the Pacific Ocean, completing the first step of the Artemis program.
There were no humans inside the Orion space shuttle, but there were three “manikins”. This is the name given to advanced human models used in scientific research. There are countless sensors inside these models, and the data collected is used to determine what people will be exposed to in a real space journey. In the second step of the project, Artemis II, real people will take their place. Artemis II will follow exactly the same route, meaning it will orbit the Moon and land in the ocean 42 days later. In the Artemis III step, there will be a re-landing on the Moon (after a 50-year hiatus). In other words, the final step of this project will be completed by sending mankind back to the Moon.
What Is the Importance of this Project?
Artemis forms the next generation of Moon missions. It’s no longer our only goal to send a few astronauts to the Moon and get them back a few hours later. NASA plans to begin colonizing the Moon with the Artemis project. Considering that the third step of Artemis will take place in 2025, this will not happen in the distant future too. Lunar colonization basically consists of two steps:
- Gateway. This will be the name of a space station orbiting the Moon. You can think of it like the International Space Station orbiting the Earth. But there is more to it than that: The Gateway will be a transfer station for the human habitat on the Moon and will act as a staging point for deep space exploration. NASA has already set its sights on Mars, and the Gateway is vital to the Mars mission.
- Human Habitat. This is the name of the outpost to be built on the lunar surface. It will be able to operate fully autonomously when there is no crew in it. While the astronauts are on the surface of the Moon, it will be a home for them. Habitat is also important for the Mars mission, as the experience gained here will also be used for Mars colonization.
These two goals alone are enough to understand why the Artemis project will launch a new space era. We’re not just going back to the Moon, we’re planning to stay there, and we’re putting a station in orbit that we’ll use to explore space. These are things that mankind has dreamed of for years, but for the first time, they’ve come this close to being true: within a few decades, we may witness the colonization of Mars. We already have a lot of useful data because the Orion space shuttle didn’t just contain manikins. The shuttle also included:
- Callisto. A customized and enhanced version of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. It will allow astronauts to communicate by voice with computer systems that control the shuttle, the station, and the habitat.
- Plastic Slides. There are 38 plastic slides designed to mimic human tissue and 34 different radiation sensors in Orion. The goal here is to determine what kind of danger the high radiation in space poses. Some of the slides are protected by a shield called “AstroRad”, and some are not. Thus, it will be determined how useful AstroRad is.
- Yeast. Yes, store-bought, regular yeast. At the end of the journey, the state of the yeast will be analyzed to determine what the possible health risks to humans will be.
When Artemis III launches, we will be able to say that we have completed the first step in our goal of colonizing space. This step will allow the next generations to travel outside the solar system and perhaps even travel between galaxies.
