Artemis 1

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Mission emblem
Mission emblem of Artemis 1
Mission dates (planned)
Mission: Artemis 1
Launcher: SLS block 1
Crew: unmanned
Begin: 4th quarter 2021
Starting place: KSC , LC-39B
Landing:
Landing place: Pacific Ocean
Flight duration: 25 days
◄ Before / After ►
EFT-1
(unmanned) 		Artemis 2
(manned)
Previous manned mission:
Apollo 17

Artemis 1 (previously Exploration Mission 1 , English for "Research Mission 1 ", EM-1 for short ; previously Space Launch System 1 or SLS-1 ) is the mission name for the second unmanned flight of the US Orion spacecraft . The mission is part of the Artemis program of NASA take place and should in Q4 2,021th The spaceship is to enter high lunar orbit and return to earth. It is the first launch of the new Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion drive and supply unit ESM built by Airbus .

Mission history

Planned trajectory of Artemis 1, with two variants for storing the SLS upper level
Start of an SLS Block 1 (artist's impression)

In November 2018, the service module of the Orion spaceship for the EM-1 mission from Bremen to the Kennedy Space Center in the USA was delivered.

In 2021, Orion is to be installed on the SLS in the Block-1 configuration with two extended solid fuel boosters derived from the space shuttle and four RS-25D engines in the main stage and an upper stage based on Delta IV from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, initially in a low one Earth orbit to be started. The upper level brings the spaceship out of the park orbit on course for the moon. After Orion has arrived there, the spaceship brakes with its own drive ("Lunar Orbit Insertion", LOI) in order to move into a high elliptical lunar orbit (English: "Distant Retrograde Orbit", DRO) after another maneuver to swing into an aposelenum 70,000 km above the surface. After a six-day stay in this orbit, Orion performs another engine ignition and is then supposed to fly back to Earth. The command capsule is supplied and powered by a European Service Module (ESM) based on the European ATV , which is separated and burns up before re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Upon re-entry, the capsule will be exposed to the highest loads for the first time at around 40,000 km / h before it is supposed to land on parachutes in the Pacific Ocean . Overall, the mission is expected to take around 25 days.

Alternative course of the mission

Under the political pressure of the election campaign for the 2020 presidential election in the United States , consideration was given to splitting and transferring the mission to the Falcon Heavy and / or Delta IV Heavy in order to meet the planned date of June 2020. The Orion spaceship and the ESM would then have been brought into low earth orbit separately in order to dock there - using a mechanism that has yet to be developed - and then to swing into the transfer orbit to the moon. However, the idea was rejected again, at least for EM-1.

Mission objectives

The aim of the mission is a first unmanned test of the new spacecraft and all systems in space. This includes the interaction of the American command module with the European service module, tests of maneuverability in lunar orbit and the practical test of the heat shield when re-entering at a speed that is significantly higher than when returning from earth orbit. At the same time, this is also the first flight of the new SLS carrier system.

The findings from this mission are an important basis for the first planned manned flight, which is currently planned as Artemis 2 for the year 2023.

Secondary payloads

Step adapter with the Cubesats (3D computer model)

In addition to the Orion spacecraft, 13 Cubesats are also to be launched with the first launch of the SLS , including several small lunar probes.

In detail these are:

  • Two payloads from NASA's NextSTEP program :
    • LunIR (formerly Skyfire ) - a CubeSat built by Lockheed Martin for a flyby of the moon.
    • Lunar IceCube - a CubeSat built by Morehead State University in Kentucky for the search for ice and other resources from an approximately 100 km high lunar orbit.
  • Three payloads as part of NASA's research into human space travel:
    • Near-Earth Asteroid Scout , or NEA Scout, is supposed to examine an asteroid, take photos and determine its position.
    • BioSentinel is said to use yeast to determine the influence of radiation in space on living organisms.
    • Lunar Flashlight is supposed to find ice deposits and determine regions where mining could be worthwhile.
  • Two NASA scientific payloads:
    • CuSP - a "weather station" in space for measuring particles and magnetic fields in space, also with regard to a future network of such stations.
    • LunaH-Map is designed to map hydrogen within lunar craters and other permanently shadowed regions at the moon's south pole.
  • Missions from international partners:
    • ArgoMoon (Argotec / Italy) - Navigation near the SLS upper level
    • Equuleus ( JAXA / Japan) - measurements of the Earth's plasma sphere
    • Omotenashi (JAXA / Japan) - an inexpensive moon lander
  • Three more payloads were determined by NASA's Cube Quest Challenge program in 2017 :

After the separation of the Orion spaceship from the upper stage and with a sufficient safety distance, the cubesats are also to be separated from the upper stage. The CubeSats are separated from the Orion stage adapter with a spring mechanism. The rest of the flight then takes place independently of each other.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Stephen Clark: NASA plans to launch first two gateway elements on the same rocket. In: Spaceflight Now. May 6, 2020, accessed on May 7, 2019 : "... delays in the first SLS test launch from 2017 until late 2021."
  2. ↑ ESA service module on the way to the USA. November 5, 2018, accessed January 27, 2019 .
  3. ↑ see section: What`s next? Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  4. ↑ EM-1: NASA managers request ambitious changes to debut SLS / Orion mission. Retrieved April 7, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Eric Berger: NASA to consider use of private rockets for first Orion lunar mission. In: Ars Technica. March 13, 2019, accessed March 13, 2019 .
  6. ^ Marcia Smith: Commercial Alternative to SLS for EM-1 Rejected. In: Spacepolicyonline.com. March 26, 2019, accessed March 30, 2019 .
  7. ^ Space Launch System's First Flight will launch small Sci-Tech cubesats. Retrieved February 3, 2016 .
  8. ↑ NASA: Three DIY CubeSats Score Rides on NASA's First Flight of Orion, Space Launch System. In: NASA Press Release 17-055. June 8, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2018 .
  9. ↑ NASA Space Launch System's First Flight to Send Small Sci-Tech Satellites Into Space. February 2, 2016, accessed February 3, 2016 .