Through the program Artemis, NASA aims to land the first astronaut on the moon woman by 2024, using completely new and never before seen technologies. The American space agency intends to collaborate with various commercial and international partners through which to build all the equipment necessary for the cause: the stated objective is to create an exploratory system (structures, missions, procedures) sustainable within the 2028. All this will serve as "proof" for humanity's next big leap: sending astronauts on Mars.
ARTEMIS I
The Artemis I mission, originally born under the name of "Exploration Mission-1", has become an icon of space exploration thanks to the presence of a multitude of instruments and aircraft belonging to the Deep Space Exploration Systems of NASA, like the spacecraft Orion , and even a new launch system like it Space Launch System (SLS) of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
In addition to launching the Orion aircraft into orbit and starting it on its long journey around the Moon, the Space Launch System will carry 13 small satellites that will carry out their scientific and data collection research.
The first of the missions, Artemis I, will provide some basic data and information for the exploration of deep space by humans and above all will kick off the great project of expanding human presence to the Moon and Mars.
Space Launch System (SLS)
NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, is a launch vehicle for heavy type, which will lay the foundation for the whole next period of human exploration beyond the Earth's orbit. It is an incredibly launching system powerful and its abilities are Without precedents. The SLS is the only rocket that to date can send the Orion spacecraft, astronauts and massive loads of instrumentation all together in a single launch.
The rocket offers more capacity in terms of volume and available energy, with immediate benefits such as achieving greater acceleration being launched. SLS is designed to be flexible to different types of launches, therefore it can also be used for loads of different nature, paving the way for the launches of robotic instruments to places such as the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.
Explore beyond Earth's orbit
In order not to disregard the hopes that America places in the next missions conducted in deep space, SLS it has been designed to make any easier design and functionality upgradestherefore it will evolve into increasingly powerful configurations should it be required. Think that the Moon is almost 1,000 times farther compared to where the space station in low Earth orbit resides, to give you an idea of where the astronauts will have to go and "how much thrust" it will take.
The rocket will provide energy to help Orion reach a speed of approximately 38,000 kilometers per hour, necessary to exit the low Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. This speed is over 11,000 kilometers per hour higher than that of the International Space Station as it moves around the Earth.
When an engine is not enough
Although more versions may coexist in the future, what will remain the same in the Space Launch System is the core stage with four RS-25 motors. Propulsion for the central SLS stage will be entrusted to four engines of the type RS-25. The Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, is composing an inventory of as many as 16 shuttle engines of this type to meet SLS performance requirements, including a new engine controller and nozzle insulation.
During the flight, the four engines they provide a boost of around 8,900 Kilonewton. Obviously, all four RS-25 engines have been structurally coupled to the central core of the rocket. To complete the construction, engineers and technicians are currently working to integrate the propulsion and electrical systems within the structure, one of the most delicate stages of the process.
The main stadium, once complete with all four engines, will be the largest missile stadium that NASA has ever built, since the days of Saturn V for the Apollo Program, which allowed the Americans to land on the moon. In relation to the latter, SLS will provide 15% more thrust.
Engineers and technicians in NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans installed the fourth RS-25 engine on November 6th, just one day after pairing the third engine. The first two engines, however, were installed in October.
At the end of the assembly, the various control teams will carry out a functional test integrated with the on-board computers, including the avionics and electrical systems that run through the entire structure, to verify any inaccuracy and possibly correct it by the end of the current year. Having included RS-25 engines in the central stadium project is the result of work done in collaboration between NASA, Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the main contractor of RS-25 engines.
Multiple versions
We have said that there will be multiple versions of the SLS: the first SLS vehicle, called Block 1, is capable of sending more than 26 tons in lunar orbit. It will be powered by two powerful five-segment rockets and four liquid propellant engines (the RS-25 engines, in fact).
After reaching deep space, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will send Orion near the Moon, where the descent operations of the astronaut crew will continue. The 70-ton SLS Block 1 configuration it can launch more payload into orbit than current launch vehicles and more than double the space shuttle's payload capacity.
The next planned evolution of the Space Launch System is the one that foresees the use of a new and more powerful Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), to allow much more ambitious missions. What does this Exploration Upper Stage consist of?? It is a module with which the SLS will, in a single launch, transport the Orion crewed vehicle together with exploration support systems such as a habitat module. This version of the SLS is for now called "Block 1B".
The "Block 1B" version can send about 37 tons to deep space, including Orion and his crew. SLS is already per se optimized for large volume loads, but optimizations will be developed to send instruments useful for remote exploration, such as spacecraft that will operate along the entire solar system.
The subsequent configuration, obviously called "Block 2," will provide nearly 53,000 Kilonewtons of thrust and will be the "final" vehicle for sending goods to the Moon, Mars and other destinations in deep space. SLS Block 2 will be designed to be able to lift more than 45 tons.
A few tricks
NASA is building the rockets needed for the first and second missions. To reduce costs and development time, the agency uses hardware tested by the space shuttle and other exploration programs. Some parts of the rocket are completely new, while others have been updated to meet the needs of demanding deep space missions, which require higher launch vehicle performance levels than those available with other existing rockets.
There Boeing Company, in Huntsville, Alabama, is currently building the main SLS stadium, including avionics who will control the vehicle during the flight. With a height of over 90 meters and a diameter of over 8 meters, the large tank will store nearly 3 million liters of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which will power the RS-25 engines. The construction phase is currently taking place at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, using next-generation production equipment, including a friction mixing tool that is the largest of its kind.
After the rocket is completely assembled, the barge Pegasus of the NASA will transport the entire facility to the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for ritual tests.
Two powerful launchers will be used for initial SLS flights derived from the shuttle. To provide the additional power needed for the rocket, Northrop Grumman, of Redondo Beach California, modified the original configuration of the space shuttle (which was a four propellant segments) in a version a five segments. Engineers are working to update the components of the space shuttle repeater to meet SLS requirements.
As already said, the size and versatility of the rocket also allow it to carry larger tools than usual, therefore structural engineers of the various payloads can pull a small one sigh of relief and reduce the complexity of cargo design, making missions less accustomed to failure or malfunctions.
This discourse goes well with the philosophy with which the entire SLS was designed: the power of the rocket and the high performance reduce the travel time towards the different interplanetary destinations and, by extension, they also reduce costs and risks.
This "evolutionary architecture" will allow NASA to be a pioneer of new human (and not only human) space flight missions and revolutionary scientific missions. Through the combined capabilities of SLS and Orion, the next "chapter" of human exploration will bring human beings far deeper into the solar system, in a continuous development of new technologies, certainly inspiring the future generations and expanding our knowledge of what ours is place in the universe.
