news-intro">The American space agency NASA reports that it has successfully installed solar panels from the Netherlands on the Orion spacecraft that will go to the moon in the coming years as part of the Artemis mission.
The 4 solar panels installed were produced by Airbus Defense and Space Netherlands. The company manufactures solar panels that deal with space conditions, for example with temperatures ranging from minus 210 degrees to plus 300 degrees Celsius. ‘Solar panels for space travel not only have to deal with temperatures of a few hundred degrees, but also have to Can withstand 40 to 60 times the force of gravity‘Rob van Hassel of Airbus Nederland told the editorial staff of Solar Magazine last year.
Essential engine room
The solar panels for the Orion spacecraft are part of the European Service Module (ESM) and funded from the Dutch contribution to ESA’s exploration program.
ESM is the essential engine room provided by the European Space Agency ESA for the Artemis mission. Besides the propulsion of Orion, the ESM also provides water, oxygen, nitrogen, heat management and, last but not least, through the Dutch solar panels, also for Orion’s electricity.
First wife
Orion is the new American manned spacecraft that will bring astronauts back to the moon in the near future and eventually further.
The Artemis 1 mission is planned for the second half of next year: the first, still unmanned, test flight is planned. In 2023, the first manned flight in orbit around the moon will take place as part of Artemis 2, again with Dutch solar panels.
From the moon to Mars
Last month, NASA published the progress of the plans for the Artemis mission in a playbook. If the flights in 2021 and 2023 are successful, 2024 must be the year in which man returns to the moon; including the first woman.
NASA on this in the playbook: ‘With modern deep space systems in development, a growing corps of astronauts and new scientific research and technologies planned to study the moon before humans return, we are closer to the landing of the crew on the moon than ever before in our history since the Apollo program. The sooner we get to the moon, the sooner we’ll send astronauts to Mars. ‘
The animation below from ESA shows how the solar panels will do their work during the trip to the moon.
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