MIAMI, Aug 8 (EFE) – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson expressed his enthusiasm Tuesday for the historic Artemis 2 mission to orbit the Moon, the first manned satellite in more than 50 years, and noted that “we are back” to “learn to live in a deep space environment for a long time.”
“We will return to the Moon, a different Moon,” with Mars next, and “we will return safely,” Nelson announced at a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, accompanied by officials from the space agency. The Americans and the crew of the Artemis II.
The four Artemis 2 astronauts today viewed the Orion capsule, which is expected to send them into space in November 2024, an important step in “our return to the moon” and “adventure into space,” Nelson said.
However, he noted that this is “a different moon really” because “we are back with commercial and international partners” and an international community passionate about this deep space challenge.
He noted that if this mission around the moon is successful, the Artemis III mission of NASA’s lunar exploration program will land on the south pole of the satellite.
The space race with China
In the context of returning to the Moon and establishing a permanent base on its surface, Nelson admitted that the US was in a “space race” with China to get there first: “I don’t want China to get to the South Pole (the Moon) first) and said: “It is ours. ” go out'”.
“We want to make sure that everyone has access to it and we want to protect the interests of the international community,” he emphasized.
He remembered the words of John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) and his commitment to space exploration and a trip to the moon.
“He told us to go to the moon, not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard. And space is difficult. Overcoming this hostile environment will satisfy us as discoverers. That’s why we’re going to go back to the moon, then go to Mars,” she stated.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy highlighted “critical first steps” including “focusing on the goal of testing on the Moon” to “be ready before you go to Mars.”
“That’s why we explore, to learn more about the universe, our solar system, Earth and ourselves,” Melroy said of some of the “exciting” experiments the Artemis 2 crew will conduct. The focus of these experiments is the “radiation”. Shi said.
measure of success
In this context, NASA astronaut Reed Wiseman, commander of the Artemis 2 mission, emphasized that the “measure of success” of Artemis 2 was “seen from the lunar surface.” And then watch people follow in our footsteps, walking “on Mars and back” to Earth.
“That’s the measure of our success,” Wiseman said, modestly stating that Artemis II “is the smallest footnote in the Artemis program.”
Jim Free, NASA’s deputy administrator for exploration systems development, said they analyzed and reviewed all mission objectives, including “anomalies to determine if we’re on the right track for Artemis 2.”
The latest mission, Artemis 1, had to face several pauses due to the epidemic and other issues before successfully completing it in December 2022. This is a “big first step”, and Free stressed that the “crew module” is “ Route Criticism”. ” this time.
“We had to assemble and test the crew module (…) and I was on the right track. Artemis 1 was a great mission and we learned a lot from it. The success was incredible,” she said, adding that “new hardware” is being used as it relies on us being notified “when something is not right”.
“Our biggest concern is the four people next to me (the Artemis 2 astronauts), who depend on us,” he said.
The four-member Artemis II crew will take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in an Orion capsule powered by the impressive giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
In addition to Commander Wiseman, the crew includes African-American pilot Victor Glover and specialist Christina Hammockk Koch (who will be the first woman to fly to low-Earth orbit), and space agency latest Jeremy Hansen. Canada (CSA).
