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With its Artemis mission NASA, the US space agency NASA plans to return people to the moon for the first time in over 50 years. On Monday, August 29, the first action in this direction will be taken. At 6:03 p.m., Artemis-1, the mission’s first test flight, will lift off from Florida’s Space Coast.

What is the goal of the Artemis-1 mission?:

Unmanned mission Artemis-1. With the first mission, researchers hope to determine if astronauts can safely operate in the lunar environment. Whether the astronauts will be able to safely return to Earth after visiting the moon is another concern.

The Orion crew capsule and the new Space Launch System (SLS) Megarocket will travel to the Moon, claims NASA. Normally, astronauts live in the crew capsule, but not this time. It will take the capsule 42 days, 3 hours, and 20 minutes to complete this mission, after which it will return to Earth on October 10. A total distance of 20 lakh 92 thousand 147 kilometres would be covered by the spaceship.

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Understand the entire Artemis mission in three points:

1. Jack Burns, a professor and scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, claims that Artemis-1’s rocket has “heavy lift” and possesses the most potent engines ever seen on a rocket. It will go to the Moon, deploy a few tiny satellites into its orbit, and then set up shop there.
2. The launch of Artemis-2 is anticipated for 2024. There will be some astronauts in it as well, but they won’t walk on the moon. Only by spinning in the moon’s orbit will they be able to return. Despite the fact that it will take more time.
3. Following this, Artemis-3 will be sent on its final mission. Landing on the moon’s surface will be the astronauts’ last destination. Around 2030, this mission can be launched. The Human Moon expedition will include women for the first time. A person of colour, or someone who is not white, will also be a member of the team, according to Burns. Everyone will travel to the Moon’s South Pole to look for ice and water.

How is Artemis different from the Apollo missions?:

JF Kennedy, a former US president, planned the Apollo expedition to overthrow the Soviet Union. His objective was to position America top in the world in the fields of science and technology, not only space exploration. However, the situation has changed in the nearly 50 years since then.

The United States no longer wants to use the Artemis mission to beat China or Russia. NASA’s mission is to properly investigate anything found outside of the Earth. Scientists want to use the dirt and ice on the moon to create structures, food, and fuel.

NASA’s Human Moon mission delayed for decades:

While Barack Obama was the US President, the SLS rocket was constructed in 2010. Through the “constellation programme,” astronauts were intended to be sent to the moon at this time, but the trip was scrapped after a number of delays.

The SLS rocket launch was scheduled for 2016 under the agency’s revised plans. After delays, Jim Bridenstein, the former NASA administrator, discovered that the rocket’s preparation would require an additional year in 2019.

A government assessment from the same year stated that the NASA mission’s delay was costing the country millions of dollars. The nation’s rulers, from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, though, persisted in trying to make the Artemis mission a success.