in recent years nasa's artemis program
has made increasing progress
initially conceived as a sister to the
apollo program
artemis will in its most fundamental
aspects replicate the sequence of
missions that put humans on the moon
in the 60s and 70s if artemis ii
successfully
executes the return flight from lunar
orbit nasa could
launch shortly thereafter perhaps as
early as 2025 artemis
iii which envisions the lunar landing
although the artemis iii mission could
be postponed if the project continues to
suffer scheduled delays in
budget overruns as planned artemis will
use nasa's massive
space launch system rocket and orion
space capsule to carry astronauts into
lunar orbit
later with artemis iii orion will
connect to a vehicle designed and built
by a private company
elon musk's spacex that will ferry the
crew to the surface
perhaps to a location near the moon's
icy south pole
but the artemis program is ambitious on
multiple fronts
if fully realized the project will
include the construction of a space
outpost orbiting the moon called the
gateway
this small station could be used as a
connection point for astronauts going to
and from the lunar surface in the future
it could also serve as support for
missions targeting destinations farther
out in the solar system
nasa plans to work with international
partners to establish a long-term
presence on the moon
and hopes that its foreign partners will
agree to a set of principles
laid out in a document called the
artemis agreements
these include a commitment to use the
moon for peaceful purposes
cooperate in emergencies share
scientific knowledge and data
and preserve sites of historical
interest such as the spot where apollo
11 landed
but let's take a closer look at how the
program will develop
artemis program everything you need to
know about the
first three missions that will take us
back to the moon
[Applause]
the artemis program named after the
mythological greek goddess of the moon
who was
also the twin sister of apollo is
basically the first
real project that aims to bring
astronauts on lunar soil
and especially to establish a lasting
human presence on the moon
all this seems almost science fiction
but in reality it is more than feasible
and the program despite technical and
especially political controversies
seems to have recovered a lot of ground
it is also the first project to involve
every possible
aerospace entity including private and
commercial ones
all this has the purpose not only to
conquer the moon permanently
but to open the way to the martian
missions
getting to mars is very complex for many
factors
so to perform a series of round-trip
missions between our planet and its
satellite
in about 10 years or little more is a
great way to train for the great
challenge of the red planet
the artemis program will be developed
over a decade and the first
three to four years will be
characterized by missions that we can
define
as preliminary the first flights will be
in fact
unmanned and will serve mainly to test
the various components
new rockets and new technologies the
apollo program required three
unmanned missions apollo 4 5 and 6
and four other manned missions without
lunar landing apollo 7
8 9 and 10 in order to check all the
systems
and especially to familiarize the
astronauts with the rendezvous maneuvers
in orbit
the first mission artemis one artemis
one formerly called
exploration mission one represents the
official start of the program missions
currently it is still scheduled to start
at the end of 2021
but it seems that even this state may be
delayed motivated by the coven 19
emergency but actually due to the still
uncertain results
of the green run test of the space
launch system the launch could be pushed
back
until the spring of 2022
[Music]
besides representing the beginning of
the program artemis one will also be the
first flight for both the most
powerful launcher ever built so far and
for the orion capsule
this first launch will primarily serve
to demonstrate the launcher's ability to
get
to and from the moon safely while also
releasing small
cubesats for scientific purposes into
lunar orbit
it will also be essential to test the
behavior of orion
one of the novelties of this program a
capsule that
promises great autonomy and structural
integrity even in emergency situations
being able to ensure the survival of its
passengers
it is designed to carry four astronauts
at a time in critical situations
until a safe landing precisely because
of the need to test these
means again there will be no astronauts
on board artemis one
the goal is to launch the orion capsule
in a lunar trajectory
then making two different orbits around
our satellite before returning to earth
during the first orbit the orion will
approach the surface
to lose speed and perform a second
flyover much higher
in this second case the capsule will
move more than 60
000 kilometers away from the lunar
surface after the second overflight the
capsule will use a gravitational
slingshot
to exit the lunar orbit and return to
the earth in the manner of the moon's
surface
one of the primary objectives of the
mission will be to survive the re-entry
phase
the orion capsule has never yet been
tested to survive reentry from a lunar
orbit
in this case the capsule will have in
fact a re-entry in the atmosphere
with an initial speed higher than 35 000
kilometers per hour
on this occasion the heat shield of the
capsule will reach temperatures
of about 2700 degrees celsius
during the artemis one flight the orion
will become the capsule
designed to accommodate astronauts to go
farther from earth
for now the record still stands with the
apollo 13 mission
artemis one is the only one of the three
planned missions for which a detailed
flight plan
is available it will in fact spend 25
days in space
six of them in lunar retrograde orbit
before ditching in the pacific ocean
as mentioned before the orion capsule
will not host astronauts
so the life support displays and control
instrumentation have been removed
in its place have been inserted sensors
and scientific instruments capable of
detecting every single parameter inside
the capsule
such as radiation level pressures and
temperatures
on board there will be two dummies on
which are placed sensors to monitor
all the levels of radiation they will
undergo
one of these will be protected with a
new protective vest
the second will be instead without
together with the orion capsule
13 cubesats will leave towards the moon
representing the secondary payload 13
small
satellites each of which will have
specific tasks
some will conduct experiments in biology
on the growth of yeast
subjected to radiation others will
follow the solar flares to look for ice
on the lunar surface
the cubesat mission is very interesting
called near-earth asteroid scout
which is basically a technology
demonstrator of a controllable
solar sail spacecraft the goal is to
test a vehicle capable of reaching
near-earth asteroids
this cubesat will leave the earth moon
system
and attempt to head towards an asteroid
observations will be obtained through a
close flyover using a high resolution
monochrome camera to measure the
physical properties of the asteroid
if artemis 1 proves to be a success then
nasa will impose about two years of hard
work to improve the whole system
so that during 2023 or 2024 we can
kick off artemis ii that is the first
manned flight into
lunar orbit after 50 years it will not
perform the moon landing but it will be
a fundamental step
for the continuation of the program
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the second mission artemis ii the
artemis ii mission will be the first
with four
astronauts on board the objective is to
perform a flyover of the moon with a
crew on board
but it will not yet descend to the
surface for the first
time after more than 50 years astronauts
will see the earth from
lunar orbit the orion capsule will
perform a single orbit around the moon
coming within 7 500 kilometers of the
surface at its closest point the second
stage of the space launch system
will ignite to rip the orion capsule
from earth's gravitational pull
after which it will undock here one of
the first experiments of the mission
will begin
immediately after undocking the
astronauts will take manual control of
the orion
and try to approach and depart from the
second stage
with the capsule's controls this will
provide a precise comparison to measure
the capsule's
manual maneuverability in vacuum for
future precision docking
for artemis iii and all subsequent
missions in fact orion capsules will
need to perform continuous talking with
the gateway
and spacex landers that will be waiting
for them in lunar orbit
artemis ii's voyage will also be used to
test the tightness of the deep space
network
this is the network of antennas and
receivers scattered around the world
that allows us to stay in touch with
probes exploring the solar system
in the first part of the journey the
orion capsule will still be connected to
earth
with the gps system and the tracking
data relay satellite system
once away only the deep space network
will be able to maintain contact with
the four astronauts
this will be an important test since
transmissions with a capsule with
astronauts are extremely more complex
and heavy than those of a robotic probe
once these tests are passed the orion
capsule will use its engines to enter a
trajectory called
translunar injection maneuver this
maneuver is the least expensive
ever for the re-entry from the moon and
involves a single turn around the
satellite before returning to earth
the third mission artemis iii
artemis iii which optimistically will
launch in 2025
will be the first mission to bring a
woman to the lunar surface
possibly with a black astronaut only two
of the four astronauts will descend to
the moon
with the other half of the crew waiting
for them aboard the orion capsule
if the gateway lunar orbital station is
not yet ready
the mission to the surface will last
nearly a week during which
up to four extra vehicular activities
may be completed
the landing will take place in an area
close to the lunar south pole
which should allow the astronauts to
perform the first ice sampling
awaiting them will also find a
non-pressurized rover which
will be able to ensure excursions away
from 5 to 15 kilometers
the objective in this case is to be able
to reach areas in the shade
to collect samples of rocks not affected
by sunlight
nasa is not only interested in the
shadow zones of the moon
but the agency is also studying the
illuminated areas of the lunar south
pole
for example the rim of shackleton crater
is almost constantly illuminated by
sunlight
ideal conditions for storing solar
energy
ahead of this mission the assembly of
the lunar gateway will also take place
whose two modules should be launched
also by spacex
by the first half of 2024 as already
mentioned it is thought that for the
artemis iii mission the lunar gateway
will
not be used yet but for all subsequent
ones the astronauts will be able to stay
aboard this station
before descending to the moon for this
lunar landing the four astronauts who
will arrive in lunar orbit
will have to dock with the spacex lander
which will wait for them in orbit
and then bring them to earth the goal of
the entire artemis program is to create
the infrastructure
and technology necessary for an extended
stay on the surface
the missions that will follow artemis
iii will then be tasked with
consolidating
all the basic elements of the program
starting in 2025 the lunar gateway
expansion will begin
with the arrival of the european modules
then it will be necessary to confirm the
reliability of the landers made
available by spacex
and establish the feasibility that they
can be stationed at the gateway before
descending to the surface
once this is done nasa and the
international partners
will have the tools to start the
construction of the artemis base camp
this will be the permanent station on
the surface of which little is known
beyond these
generic goals the other major project
that will see the light of day in the
upcoming artemis missions
is the lunar satellite communications
constellation
the series of satellites is tentatively
named luninet
this service will allow to equip the
moon with a communication service
with the earth and between the various
means on the surface
and in orbit as well as in the future
also access to the internet
in this way the various satellites will
act as a network of repeaters to earth
it seems almost already all we have to
do now is hope and
pray for success