JAKARTA – Four astronauts on the Artemis II mission saw for the first time the Orion capsule or spacecraft that will take them to the Moon in 2024.
They are United States (US) astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
The Artemis II mission will launch in November 2024, but the astronauts will not set foot on the Moon, this journey only to pave the way for an eventual landing on Earth’s natural satellite, which will be carried out on the Artemis III mission in 2025 if on schedule.
Astronauts had a chance to peer through the hatch of the Orion capsule, which is largely finished and went through some final tests before being hooked up to its power and propulsion module at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US.
“When we first stick our heads out and you look around there you realize, this can only be one thing, a spaceship. Nothing looks like it and that’s how I feel, that’s what gives me chills,” he said. Koch is also a mission specialist for Artemis II.
The Orion crew module is 5 meters long and almost 4 feet wider than the Apollo command module from the first era of Moon exploration.
Stacks of powerful speakers also surround the capsule on three sides. The top of the spaceship is shaped gum drop covered in black silica tiles.
Below, the spacecraft’s main heat shield is attached which is capable of withstanding temperatures of nearly 2,800 degrees Celsius, generated at the end of the mission when the capsule falls back through Earth’s atmosphere at the equivalent of 32 times the speed of sound.
This weekend, loudspeakers will begin blasting the Orion’s crew module which mimics the acoustic energy from a rocket launch. Live field acoustic tests were designed to ensure the spacecraft could cope with the intense sound of the rocket’s engines and thrusters Space Launch System (SLS) of NASA, which will send the Artemis II crew into space.
The final touches on the Orion crew module have taken longer than expected, and the joint of the two Orion modules is now expected to be installed in mid-September, two to three months later than NASA forecast earlier this year. Ars Technica, Thursday, August 10th.
“It’s great to look inside. The fit and finish are gorgeous. It’s great to see the actual hardware all coming together,” said astronaut Wiseman who is also the commander of the Artemis II mission.
“The things we’ve learned so far in training, to see it for real on the spacecraft, it gives you a good sense of how far it’s come. The hardware is almost ready.”
Tags: artemis orion nasa outer space
2023-08-10 14:30:00
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