SMU astrophysicist explains NASA’s Artemis project

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind when he became the first human to walk on the Moon.

The Apollo program brought humans to the lunar surface five more times, with the last mission being in December of 1972.

Now, 50 years later, NASA's Artemis project aims to return astronauts to Earth's satellite.

The first mission, Artemis 1, will be an initial test flight of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft that will bring humans back to the Moon.

It was to launch Monday, but the liftoff was postponed due to an engine cooling problem and a vent valve crack.

NASA hopes to try again on Friday.

“This is a really big deal for NASA, this Space Launch System,” explained Dr. Rob Thacker, an astrophysicist at Saint Mary's University. 

“The rocket itself has been in development since 2010 and it's quite a bit behind schedule. It was initially supposed to launch in 2016 if you can believe that.”

Thacker says Artemis has been planned out as a series of three missions. Artemis 1 will be an unmanned, 42 day mission in space.

“There are supposed to be mannequins with sensors on them to see what the overall flight looks like in terms of G-forces and things like that,” he told CityNews Halifax.

“Then there will be a second mission which at the moment is planned for 2024.”

Artemis II will be the first crewed test flight of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft. Four astronauts, including one Canadian, will be on board and go farther into the solar system than humanity has ever travelled before. 

“But it won't actually go down to the Moon itself,” Thacker said. “And a third mission, which is scheduled for 2025 or 2026, will be the one that will actually put astronauts back down on the Moon.”

The Artemis III crew is expected to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the lunar surface.

Although Artemis is NASA-led, other countries besides the United States are involved.

Canada is contributing the Canadarm 3 to what's called the Gateway space station. 

“Which is an idea to have a space station in orbit around the Moon as a staging post for going down to the Moon's surface, or potentially, going out and flying missions out into space beyond the Moon,” Thacker explained, “learning about missions in deep space, how to fly those, because that's necessary if we're ever to go to Mars.”

The Canadarm 3 will be used to do things like maintain, repair and inspect the Gateway, capture visiting vehicles and help astronauts during spacewalks.