“Artemis 1? A success. And soon we will announce the crew of Artemis 2”
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The return to Earth has begun. For the Orion spacecraft of the Artemis 1 mission, the lunar orbit was abandoned on Friday 1 December to undertake the journey that will bring the command module of the Orion to disengage, before the plunge into the atmospheric layers, from the European Service Module made in Europe to attempt the landing with parachute scheduled for 11 December around 18.30 (in Italy). It will be the conclusion of a mission that lasted 25 days, instead of the 42 expected if the SLS carrier rocket had departed in September or October, due to the different, respective positions between the Earth and the Moon.
In this first mission of the Artemis program there are no astronauts, but on board the spacecraft, launched with the powerful SLS on 16 November, there are three mannequins loaded with sensors and technological devices, as well as dosimeters for measuring ionizing radiation, much higher when traveling ( and foundations are laid) beyond Earth’s orbit.
On Artemis we had the opportunity to speak with one of NASA’s Program Managers, Dr. Sam Scimemi, who is Senior Assistant Exploration Systems Development for the US space agency, which is the Directorate for Human Space Exploration Programs.
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Scimemi was among the guests, and among the many authoritative speakers of the NSE 2022, the New Space Economy Forum, organized by the “Amaldi Foundation” with Fiera di Roma; the latter also home to the annual event now in its fourth edition, and which this year, as it was in 2019, takes place again in person.
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And while Orion, with its European ESM module, shoots towards the Earth at 39,000 kilometers per hour, we are already looking at the next missions, which will have astronauts on board as early as Artemis 2, and at others planned, including robotic ones: “All of our human and robotic lunar activities are part of this new generation of exploration on the Moon” – says Sam Scimemi, who in addition to the Moon, takes a look at missions on Mars – “and they all revolve around lunar exploration in Artemis. We are returning to the Moon to make scientific discoveries, to improve technology and to learn about living and working on another world, as we prepare for manned missions to Mars.”
“After Artemis 1 – says Scimemi – we will start sending a suite of instruments to the Moon through our Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) initiative. During Artemis, NASA will send dozens of new missions to the Moon for scientific investigations and technological experiments. And then, in the next step, systems and technologies that help answer fundamental planetary science questions on the lunar surface will contribute to similar investigations on Mars.”
“Artemis’ first crewed mission will be the Artemis 2 test flight, scheduled for 2024. Artemis 3 is scheduled for 2025 and Artemis 4 for 2027. Thereafter, the Artemis crewed missions will continue each year as we develop the our infrastructure and capabilities on the lunar surface and in lunar orbit with the Gateway Space Station.”
And therefore, the crews of the next missions will be announced soon: “We will appoint a crew for the Artemis 2 mission, the first flight of Orion and the SLS with astronauts, after the completion of Artemis 1, and after the agency has completed the review of the mission” – confirms the NASA executive.
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A program, that of Artemis which, unlike its “big brother” Apollo, is based on international cooperation. And in this context, Italy has an important role: “Artemis is an international company and NASA will continue to discuss contributions with partners from all over the world – confirms Scimemi – the Italian company Thales Alenia Space is working with the American company Northrop Grumman to develop Gateway’s first habitat, the Outpost Housing and Logistics (HALO), which is expected to be launched together with Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) in 2024”.
“The European ESA also – he adds – will supply the second Gateway habitat, I-Hab. NASA is also in discussions with the Italian Space Agency about further contributions to lunar surface habitability, although no formal agreements have been made. And Italy is also a signatory to the Artemis Accords, which outline a shared vision of principles, based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to create a safe and transparent environment for future exploration”.
Moving forward and looking to the decade 2030, is Mars therefore the great goal?: “Mars remains our goal of reference – he says – as the world’s interest and capabilities in space exploration continue to expand rapidly. And NASA, with international partners, will lead the return to the Moon and the first manned mission to Mars to search for past life further out in the solar system. Operations on the Moon will enable NASA to develop technologies essential to Mars missions, including entry, descent and ascent, as well as landing and power supply technologies.”
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