It almost seemed as if the sky were fighting back against the missile. Over the weekend, thunderstorms had swept over Cape Canaveral in Florida, and several lightning bolts had struck the towers at the launch site. But the test engineers at the US space agency Nasa could not find any damage. 50 years after humans last set foot on the moon, their rocket to the moon is scheduled to start this Monday.
The unmanned test flight is part of the Artemis mission, with which the Americans want to bring people back to the moon in a few years – and to Mars in the long term. It is perhaps NASA’s most spectacular program ever, as an overview of the various phases shows.
Artemis 1: The Dummy Flight
If everything goes according to plan, Artemis 1 will start on a 42-day mission this Monday at 8:33 a.m. local time (2:33 p.m. CEST). It is a test flight of a 98 meter high Space Launch System rocket and the Orion crew capsule on it. Instead of astronauts, mannequins equipped with sensors are on board, recording vibrations, acceleration and radiation levels in order to collect important data for later flights.
The Orion capsule is designed to orbit the moon and come within 100 kilometers of it. Then it should penetrate up to 64,000 kilometers behind the moon – that would be a record for a spacecraft that is supposed to transport people.
In particular, the heat shield is to be tested, which must withstand a speed of almost 40,000 kilometers per hour and a temperature half as hot as that of the sun’s surface when it returns to the earth’s atmosphere. Later, the capsule returns to Earth.
Despite years of preparation and numerous tests, there is no guarantee that everything will run smoothly with Artemis 1 – the program is already five years behind the original schedule. “We’re doing something incredibly difficult, and there are risks involved,” says Mission Manager Mike Sarafin. Various parts of the capsule and rocket fly together for the first time.
Artemis 2: The astronauts are coming
The Artemis 2 stage, planned for 2024, is intended to put astronauts in orbit around the moon. A landing on the moon is not planned for then.
The crew is expected to be announced by the end of the year. It is already certain that a Canadian will be there – for the first time in history.
Artemis 3: The Moon Landing
Artemis 3 is the first stage of the program, in which astronauts are to land on the moon – and at its south pole. There, water was detected in the form of ice. The twelve astronauts once brought to the moon as part of NASA’s Apollo program had landed near the equator, the last as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Artemis 3 is scheduled to take place in 2025. According to an independent review, however, this is not expected until 2026 at the earliest. Artemis 3 is supposed to be the prelude to a true shuttle service to the moon: Nasa then wants to start moon flights with a crew about once a year. Calculated cost per launch: $4.1 billion.
The private space company plays a decisive role in this SpaceX from Tesla– Boss Elon Musk (51). NASA has commissioned SpaceX to build a lunar module for Artemis 3. The machine will serve as a shuttle to bring astronauts from the Orion capsule to the lunar surface and back. The vehicle is said to be a version of the Starship spaceship.
Gateway: The new space station
The Artemis program also envisages building a space station called Gateway to orbit the moon. The start of the first two elements, a living module and the energy and drive system, is not planned for the end of 2024 at the earliest.
The astronauts are expected to stay on the space station for between 30 and 60 days. Later, a lunar module will dock there, with which the crew can travel from the station to the moon. The space station will also serve as a way station for future trips to Mars.
The destination: Mars
The major goal of the Artemis program is what NASA has called the “next big step”: human exploration of Mars.
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NASA wants to use the knowledge gained through Artemis, including in the areas of space suits, vehicles and drives, to prepare the journey to Mars. For example, the experts want to find out how people can stay in space for long periods of time. A base is to be built there so that astronauts can stay on the moon for up to two months. In the event of a problem, the moon is only a few days’ flight away – while Mars is at least several months away.