Four astronauts will fly around the moon in 2024 or so. It’s the first human trip to the moon in half a century, and NASA wants to make sure its rocket is ready.
Agency’s Space Launch System (SLSThe missile charged with the historic launch has already been fired once. sent succesfully Artemis 1An unmanned spaceship with three supermodels on board the moon The year is 2022. And now she has the even more delicate task of making sure all four are Artemis 2 The astronauts remain safe on board during the stress of the launch.
“(The) most obvious (difference) is having the crew on board,” Clive Lanham, senior director of Vehicle Operations, told Space.com. “That changes the mindset of the entire workforce, from a safety standpoint and our work environments.” Lanham is responsible for the operational activities required to obtain Orion spacecraft The SLS is ready.
Artemis 2 is scheduled to send four astronauts to the Moon: NASA Leader Reed WisemanNASA pilot Victor Glover (The first person of color leaves Land Orbit), a NASA mission specialist Christina Koch (the first woman to do so) and the CSA Jeremy Hansen (First non-American).
Related: Four to the moon! NASA assigns Artemis 2 astronauts to the first lunar mission since Apollo
To equip the missile, additional tests are being conducted with new systems aboard the SLS and its mobile launcher, including an emergency escape system for the crew if necessary. He assured Hannam that the crew is also very engaged, including a planned test on site with the quartet of astronauts donning their spacesuits.
The team also won’t start from scratch in terms of preparation, Jeremy Graeber, assistant launch manager, said in the same interview, since they’re banking on the months of testing and years of development that took place before Artemis 1’s uncrewed launch. around the moon in 2022.
NASA says the “foundation” laid by Artemis 1 will facilitate subsequent mission preparations. This is a great hope for mission planners, since Artemis 1 took additional months to lift off from Earth after hiccups in the simulated launch countdown with fuel on board, known as a “wet clothes rehearsal.”
Related: NASA announces successful test of the Artemis 1 moon rocket, and begins preparation for launch
“We approached many of these challenges from a procedural perspective and from a training perspective. Now we’re working on strengthening that foundation and adding crew-related content,” Graeber said of Artemis 2’s differences from Artemis 1.
The interview was conducted shortly after the Artemis 2 portable launch pad was put on the platform in late August for testing for the next six months. Sometime in September or so, for example, the crew will simulate launch day along with the ground crew: They’ll wake up at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, get dressed, and blast off to the tower. And while there’s no rocket waiting for them as they climb up the elevator, Graeber said training will be key to working out any kinks on launch day next year.
There are also two planned emergency escapes with the crew: one during the day and one at night, both scheduled for late in the year. While wearing spacesuits, the astronauts will leave the tower by means of baskets under the zipline. They will glide to safety at a nearby staging area, where a waiting vehicle will take them back to the safety of the NASA building.
In early 2024, the launch pad will then return to NASA’s massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for a major feat: stacking and assembling the Space Launch System rocket for testing in the building. Next comes preparation for tank testing, when the launch pad and rocket together head to the pad in the fall of 2024. Then, finally, the group will return to the VAB to finish preparations on the Orion spacecraft before heading to launch. A pillow for the big day in late 2024.
Graeber stressed that preparations for Artemis 2 will be careful through every step; In other words, crew safety will always come before any predetermined launch schedule.
Related: How do the Artemis 2 astronauts train for their 2024 lunar mission?
“We’re going to be doing roughly the same number of launch countdown simulations leading up to Artemis 2, because we now have this additional responsibility to our flight crew. And that’s our number one priority in everything Artemis 2 has to do: safety of our crew. Flight crew and our ground crews. That’s going to be it. Focus on everything we do.
Part of the process is continued practice, said Jesse Berdis, deputy project manager for Mobile Launcher 1 (the launcher is used for Artemis 2). He likened it to intense preparation to prepare for a live sports tournament. “It’s kind of muscle memory, making sure we know what we’re doing and that we’ve coached the football for the Super Bowl long before,” he said.
Some of the major changes to look for in Artemis 2 include:
fueling disc. Attempts to train in wet clothes prior to Artemis 2 included unexpected leaks, a brief grass fire, and a tornado, all of which “allowed us to learn a lot,” Graeber said. He added that the team now had data to adjust pressures, temperatures and fuel flow rates to avoid leaks. SLS designers also consider “interfaces,” or the points where fuel lines enter the tanks, to do their best to avoid leaks. Tank testing will help ensure that these interfaces are intact prior to launch.
Small design changes for the mobile operator. Although the launch pad is missing the elevator doors (Seen in a drama video) during liftoff of Artemis 1, only a few errors occurred; It performed at a perfect 99 percent according to NASA standards. NASA and its contractors are working to reinforce any damaged areas of Artemis 1, such as pipes or blast shields around the flame hole. The flame reflector will also see changes in the design of the main boards. However, experts tell Perdis that the pressure of a launch could spell trouble elsewhere than expected. “It’s just part of it space industry.”
Upgrade “Rainbird”. NASA moderated the power takeoff of Artemis 1 with five large water craters, also known as “rainbirds”. Engineers are now using this data to distribute water through the system more evenly ahead of Artemis 2.
“We’ve made some modifications to the heads of rainbirds to direct water at specific locations,” said Byrdis. “When they’re flush, they have performance coverage across the deck to make sure they protect the mobile launch platform from the missile blast.”
Smaller but critical changes to the campaign include the removal of electromagnetic interference testing on the SLS (where Artemis 2 uses a similar stack as Artemis 1); added test crew communications systems; and adding new payloads to Orion for the mission.
