Author: Valentin Keusch

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Finally Artemis 1 is in the space

 Finally Artemis 1 is in the space

The launch will be done soon… Finally? After multiple delays due to technical problems on the launch pad, this Wednesday, November 16 at 7:04 AM UTC+1 the SLS (space launch system), the super rocket NASA will propel the Orion capsule. Artemis 1 announces the return of man to the Moon 50 years after the stop of the Apollo program (1961 – 1972) which allowed to see 12 men walking on the Moon. At the time Saturn V was the super launcher that propelled men on a translunar injection to make them land on the Moon.

 

The objective of the Artemis missions is to bring man back to the Moon permanently and to install a permanent lunar base. Artemis 1 will test the SLS and the Orion capsule by performing liftoff, entry into Earth orbit, trans-lunar injection, entry into lunar orbit and return to Earth.

 

A few details about the SLS (Space Launch System)

The mission will last 25 days with a return scheduled for December 11. But before going into the details of the mission, a small reminder of the functioning of the SLS is necessary. On the image of the rocket you can see the opposite, we can distinguish different notable parts. The first and the most obvious one is the orange central part called “the core stage”. It is composed of the liquid hydrogen tank and above it is the liquid oxygen tank.

On both sides of the core stage, we can find solid rocket boosters. The SLS has two solid rocket boosters that burn approximately six tons of solid propellant each second to help lift the enormous rocket off the launch pad and send it soaring to space. Their job is finished in two minutes.

Above the orange core stage, we can find the Orion multiple-purpose crew vehicle. It is composed Crew module, service module, and the RL 10 engine which will propel the whole on a trans-lunar injection.
Finally, the element at the top is the launch abort system which is used to save the crew module in case of the explosion of the rocket at takeoff or during the phase of launch until the earth’s orbit.

And you will say to me, why do you speak to us about the launch of the Artemis 1 rocket in a blog with digital vocation? Simply because for several years rocket launches are more and more covered in the traditional media but especially on social networks. We can see it on Twitter with a meteoric increase in the tweets posted by the different actors of the space.

But also on twitch and youtube where Nasa and Space X for example have their channels to broadcast live the launches with journalists and commentators. A whole program is built around each launch and is followed by thousands of people. We can also see on youtube the development of several channels specialized in space with Stardust and Hugo Lisoir for example. Each channel deals with space news or space history to democratize the field of space for the general public.