The Artemis mission is a “stepping stone” to Mars, why returning to the Moon is so important

Back to the moon, but why? It’s been 53 years since the big leap in the face of a small step and space exploration with probes and telescopes that take us back to the complexity of the universe. But back to our satellite therewhose roof is likely to be trampled upon by an astronaut this time, It is the first stage of a more ambitious mission: achievement Mars Which we’ve already begun to study thanks to the rovers. It is the same number as the one from NASA, Bill Nelson, To make clear that the Moon is a “launching point” for future missions that will bring astronauts – not models – to the Moon and for future Mars exploration. “Seeing the SLS rocket and Orion capsule together for the first time was an amazing sight. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the frontiers of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and then Mars.” The Orion capsule will remain in space for about 26 days before returning to Earth by diving into the Pacific Ocean. The goal of the uncrewed mission is to send the spacecraft on a loop trajectory past the Moon to test its propulsion, navigation, and solar-powered systems. If the result is as expected, Artemis 2 will be launched in 2024 with four astronauts on boardfollowed in 2025-26 by the mission that will return astronauts to lunar soil.

It was 2019 when then-NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine explained: “The Moon is the testing ground. Mars is the target on the horizon. Landers and robotics will lead the way and together they will allow science to be done on the entire lunar surface.” The heart of the mission is Lunar Gateway that will “serve as a multi-purpose outpost in lunar orbit” and, as the US space agency puts it again, “will provide essential support for the long-term return of man to the lunar surface and serve as a springboard for deep space exploration.” Starting from lunar orbit rather than terrestrial orbit allows several additional tons of payload to be carried on a single aircraft. This is because the aircraft must escape the lunar clouds which are much lower than the Earth’s clouds. By itself it is not a total savings, since all materials still have to be transported from Earth to lunar orbit. Significant savings will be achieved when, in the future, we can extract materials directly from the Moon

Whether the Red Planet is the target are the tests that continue. Two days ago, the NASA-designed Loftid inflatable heat shield to allow the landing of heavy payloads on Mars and for a much softer re-entry back on Earth returned to Earth as scheduled, ending its journey with a dive into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. Meanwhile on Mars perseverance found “finding rocks with organic molecules” Which, according to US space agency experts, could be a “potential sign of life.” In other words, it can be traced back to “a substance or structure that could attest to the existence of previous life on the Red Planet, but that could also have been produced without the presence of any life.”