NASA is having a second go at getting back to the Moon. If technical problems and weather cooperated, Artemis I, the first mission in NASA's program for its return to the moon, is on its way there.
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After launch, the entire mission will last about a month, with a maximum of 42 days. It will take a bit over a week to get to the moon. While the Apollo missions only took three days, Artemis is taking the scenic route.
This is in part for testing, and in part as it is taking a longer path. Along the way, Artemis will deploy a total of 10 satellites at three different points on the way - they are essentially hitching a ride.
Once at the moon, the Orion capsule will do a number of elliptical orbits - it won't be as close to the moon as the Apollo capsules. It will then make a longer trip back, taking about two or so weeks.
This will be a key feature of the Artemis missions - spending a lot longer in space than the Apollo missions.
Artemis II, which will be the first to carry humans to the moon since Apollo 17, will only do one loop around the moon, and come back to the earth with a total time of about 10 days - more akin to the Apollo missions.
However, Artemis III, which will land humans on the surface in 2025, will spend about a month there.
The goal of getting back to the moon is to use it as an easy stepping stone to Mars. Technology can be developed, and moreover, it can be easier to get to Mars from the moon compared to the Earth.
There is a lot of ice, frozen water, on the moon. You can break water into hydrogen and oxygen - the ingredients for rocket fuel.
Artemis IV will assembly the space station around the moon, called the Gateway. We also expect to see an Australian-built rover landing on the moon as part of Artemis IV. It would make Australia the fifth country to do so - with the goal of finding and extracting oxygen from the surface.
This is what makes the Artemis program different from Apollo - and even more exciting. It will not just be watching astronauts for a few hours or days on the surface, they will be spending longer periods on the surface or in orbit.
And we will also see some amazing science as part of the program.
One of the big legacies of the Apollo program was not just landing humans on the Moon, but all the science. From measuring how fast the moon was drifting away, to collecting all the rocks which helped us understand how the moon was formed.
With the Artemis program, there will be huge opportunities to launch and build experiments to go to the moon as part of the program - including telescopes that can be deployed on the moon.
The future is exciting and bright as we make our way back to the moon, as big and bright as the full moon in the sky itself.
- Brad Tucker is an Astrophysics and Cosmologist at Mt Stromlo Observatory and the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at the ANU.
