The design of Artemis III has changed a lot with respect to what was initially conceived. To begin with, initially the objective was to carry out the moon landing. Later, the possibility of not landing on the moon was raised, but testing docking with the landing system in lunar orbit. However, this will no longer be the case. It has been decided test everything in low Earth orbit, since the tests can be done just as well there and costs and risks are reduced. However, this is not the only change that has been announced recently about the mission.
They are all advantages. The journey to low Earth orbit is easier, but also offers more opportunities. In Artemis III there will be many vehicles involved, since we will not only have the SLS rocket and the Orion ship as in Artemis II. The HLS landing systems of SpaceX and Blue Origin. To travel to the Moon there are very narrow launch windows, while low Earth orbit offers more launch opportunities for all of these vehicles. If it is necessary to postpone a first date, there would not be a long wait.
Why so much propulsion? In Artemis I and II, the rocket that propelled the shipthe SLS, had a cryogenic propulsion upper stage, which used cryogenic fuels to give the rocket an extra boost and escape the Earth’s gravitational pull. But this is no longer necessary in Artemis III. They don’t need to escape from Earth, on the contrary. Therefore, this stage has been eliminated in order to save on fuel.
Be careful with the gap. You cannot remove a stage from the rocket and leave it as is. The rocket is manufactured with a specific weight and height profile. If a piece is simply removed, some of that weight is lost and it becomes unbalanced. Therefore, this propulsion stage It will be replaced by a structural spacer. That is, a piece that weighs and measures exactly the same, but has no function. NASA has already made great progress in its construction.
Nothing is thrown away here. The upper stage that has been removed will be used on Artemis IV, since there we will travel to the Moon and all the possible momentum is needed. For the third phase it will be much easier and cheaper to fly without it.
Orion+HLS. The main objective of Artemis III will be to verify that the Orion spacecraft and the SpaceX and Blue Origin HLS can dock properly. Once this docking occurs, some members of the crew would go from Orion to the HLS, to verify that the transition from one vehicle to another can be made and to carry out the relevant tests.
More permanence in space. Artemis III astronauts will stay in space longer than Artemis II astronauts. This will allow them to obtain additional data on Orion’s life support systems under prolonged manned conditions.
Slowly and with good writing. The Apollo missions were a leap into the void, literally. It was possible to go to the Moon on several occasions, but the risk was very high. During all these years, a more exhaustive study of the Moon has been done to design the best travel conditions. The goal was to return to our satellite, but not at any price. The return journey has already begun, but it is not worth rushing at the last moment. To do this safely and send many more manned missions in the near future, it is important that Artemis III is a safe test.
That’s why these NASA design changes are so important. Of course, we cannot forget that NASA is not the only one responsible. SpaceX and Blue Origin must also demonstrate that their vehicles are safe. Time is running out for everyone.
Image | POT
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