Man stepped on the moon for the first and last time in 1969. Although, now, NASA is planning to return to the natural satellite with bold plans later this decade. Last Wednesday, is 16 of November of 2022, the organization began the unmanned Artemis I mission.
The American space agency's proposal is to investigate lunar conditions and enable the return of humans to the moon in the coming years. Nonetheless, NASA's plan is that within 10 years for people to even be able to live on the moon for an unspecified period of time.
The objective is to create a habitat suitable for creating a support base for astronauts to live on the moon for a long period of time.. Like this, other scientific missions would benefit in loco.
Humans on the moon 2025
The information was passed on by Howard Hu, Orion spacecraft supervisor. The professional, considered high-ranking at the NASA agency, made the statement directly to the BBC broadcaster.
“It's the first step we're taking toward long-term deep space exploration, not just for the United States, but for the world”, he stated. Evidently, This is a plan that depends greatly on the hopes placed by NASA in the Artemis mission.
In the end, Experts still don't know for sure how long it is possible to stay on the lunar surface. A series of tests were carried out throughout NASA's recent mission. Although, The forecast is that humans will return to the earth only on the Artemis mission 3, planned for 2025.
The Artemis mission
After more than three months of delay, NASA finally launched the Space Launch System mega rocket (SLS), directly from the Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, in the Merritt Islands (USA). Before that, the space agency had already made two attempts, one in August and one in September.
Although, due to technical failures, the mission was postponed. Attached to the rocket is the Orion capsule, responsible for rotating around the moon and analyzing lunar surface conditions. Artemis is already flying over the moon and should remain at the farthest point from the satellite for 5 dias.
First stage ends in December
After, the capsule will reach 100 km altitude, which would be the closest point to the moon, to observe current lunar features, like impact craters. The next steps of the mission, nonetheless, may undergo changes as NASA does not rule out postponements.
The SLS rocket is expected to return to Earth in 11 December, ending the first Artemis mission. This event is already considered a historic milestone and all stages of the unmanned mission can be followed through NASA TV broadcasts.
