A few hours ago, the SLS rocket successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to carry the Orion spacecraft to the Moon. It is the premiere of the Artemis I mission, the first of an international space exploration program as ambitious as it is costly, the ultimate goal of which is to establish a permanent presence on a satellite and serve as a launch pad for the arrival of humans on Mars.

After several delays due to technical problems, Artemis I is now running and will be the first of several launches with we will return to the moon 50 years later since the end of the Apollo missions. The International Manned Space Flight Program is led by NASA, with partners such as the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), the Australian Space Agency (ASA) and Mexican Space Agency (AEM), in addition they also include American commercial companies.

Artemis I, first the Moon, then Mars

«As part of the Artemis program, humanity will explore areas of the Moon that have never been visited, bringing us together around the unknown, the unseen and the once impossible. Next year we will return with robots to the moon, send astronauts to its surface within four, and build a permanent presence by the end of the decade,” said the NASA administrator. Jim Bridenstinein the Artemis Plan working document.

The goals are known and will be achieved through continuous launches (from NASA and others such as Space X with Falcon Heavy rockets) as the idea is to complete the Lunar Gateway orbital platform, which is key to a continued and long-term presence on the satellite. and subsequently serve to help get to Mars. If the first missions like Artemis I are unmanned, the following ones will be, inclusive the arrival of the first woman on the moon scheduled for Artemis III in 2024. It will also be a novelty to set foot on the satellite’s south pole.

A program as ambitious as this requires far-reaching technological innovation, and here we must list the tests that will be carried out on Artemis II to evaluate the functionality of the hardware and software that the actual mission to land on the Moon will need and that we hope will be as successful 50 years from now like the computer that got us to the moon.

Another of the program’s large devices is the Space Launch System (SLS), the largest and most powerful rocket ever built, which, thanks to the gradual improvement of its versions (blocks), will be able to cover all Artemis launches up to Mission VII. Also quote ‘Orion”, a special ship that is in charge of transporting astronauts to the orbit of the moon. It is a reusable craft that contains two compartments, a crew module and a service module, designed and manufactured by ESA.

The Orion spacecraft is expected to dock with Lunar Gateway Orbital Platform once built thanks to NASA launches as well as private companies such as SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy or Blue Origin’s New Glenn. This platform is critical to achieving a permanent presence on the Moon as well as supporting trips to Mars planned for the next decade.

Artemis is also considering other technological innovations, such as an Advanced Exploration Lander that would launch from an orbital platform to a satellite; HERACLES, a human-enhanced robotic architecture and scientific exploration capability, and Moon Cruiser, a logistics vehicle based on the Orion ATV spacecraft and ESM service module to be used as auxiliary support for the Lunar Gateway orbital platform.

A very ambitious program as you will see should mark a new era in space exploration. Artemis I is just the beginning. We’ll leave it up to you to start the mission: