Mega Moon Rocket prête pour le lancement

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{” attribute=””>NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This powerful Space Launch System (European-built module that supplies electricity, propulsion, fuel, water, and air in addition to keeping the spacecraft operating at the right temperature.

Artemis I mission overview. Orion is NASA’s next spacecraft to send humans into space and is part of the Artemis program. It is designed to send astronauts farther into space than ever before, beyond the Moon and to the lunar Gateway. Credit: ESA–K. Oldenburg

Artemis to the Moon

The European Service Modules are made from components supplied by over 20 companies in ten European Space Agency (ESA) Member States and the United States. As the first European Service Module sits atop the SLS rocket on the launchpad, the second is only 8 km (5 miles) away, as it is currently being integrated with the Orion crew capsule for the first crewed mission – Artemis II. The third and fourth European Service Modules – that will power astronauts to a Moon landing – are in production in Bremen, Germany.

Contributions in Europe for the European Service Module that is powering the Artemis missions around the Moon. Credit:
ESA–K. Oldenburg

The Artemis program is an international endeavor to build a permanent outpost around and on the Moon. Modules for the lunar Gateway are being built in the United States and Europe, with the first European module – International Habitat – in production in Turin, Italy, and set for launch on the fourth Artemis mission alongside the Orion spacecraft.

The first Artemis launch this week is without humans, but three mannequins have been placed in the spacecraft’s seats to conduct scientific research. Fitted with more than 5600 sensors, two mannequins will measure the amount of radiation astronauts could be exposed to in future missions with unprecedented precision. ESA is also including active radiation dosimeters in the Crew Module to get more data on how radiation levels change on a mission to the Moon – building on the leadership developed over decades of radiation research on the International Space Station.

Logo for the first European Service Module (ESM) that is powering NASA’s Orion spacecraft to send humans into space and the Moon as part of the Artemis program. Credit: ESA

Dates

With a November 16 launch, the three-week Artemis I mission would end on December 11 with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The European Service Module detaches from the Orion Crew Module before splashdown and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere, its job complete after taking Orion to the Moon and back safely.

Backup Artemis I launch dates include November 19. Watch the launch live on ESA Web TV.

Le vaisseau spatial Orion avec module de service européen volera plus loin de la Terre que n’importe quel véhicule à cote humaine n’a jamais volé auparavant. Cette vidéo donne un aperçu de la première mission – sans astronautes – pour Artemis, en se concentrant sur le module de service européen de l’ESA qui alimente le vaisseau spatial. Le vaisseau spatial effectuera un survol de la Lune, en utilisant la gravité lunaire pour gagner de la vitesse et se propulser à 70 000 km au-delà de la Lune, à près d’un demi-million de km de la Terre – plus loin qu’aucun humain n’a jamais voyagé, où il s’injectera dans un lointain rétrograde Orbite autour de la Lune. Lors de son voyage de retour, Orion fera un autre survol de la Lune avant de retourner sur Terre. Le voyage total prendra environ 20 jours et se terminera par une éclaboussure dans l’océan Pacifique sans le module de service européen – il se sépare et brûle sans danger dans l’atmosphère. Crédit : ESA – Agence Spatiale Européenne