Fifty years ago the first moon mission took place and last week was nothing but a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the same. Along with celebrating the whole event, NASA also revealed that it is going to carry out another mission to the moon using its newly developed Orion spacecraft, that will return humans to the moon by 2024.
During the 50th anniversary event at the Kennedy Space Center, the agency confirmed that the Orion crew capsule is ready for its trip to the moon and it will be carrying out its first mission after June 2020.
In the first mission of Orion next year, i.e., Artemis 1, the spacecraft will not carry any humans to the moon. It will be propelled through Boeing‘s new Space Launch System and will spend three weeks in the space. During this time, it will stay in the orbit of the moon for over six days. The mission will also carry out a test on the spacecraft while returning to the earth. During the mission, the agency will be testing the thermal shielding of Orion the time it will be entering the atmosphere of the earth at the highest of speed. This very mission is estimated to cost a total of $20-30 billion.
In the second mission to the moon, i.e. Artemis 2, in 2022 the spacecraft will carry a proper crew, and later in 2024, with the mission Artemis 3, it will take the astronauts to the surface of the moon.
During the event, Vice President Mike Pence talked about the first successful moon mission and the spaceflight, Apollo 11, that first landed humans on the moon. He also talked about the new Orion spacecraft and the missions that it will be carrying out in the coming future.
“Thanks to the hard work of the men of NASA, men and women of NASA, and American industry, the Orion crew vehicle for the Artemis 1 mission is complete and ready to begin preparations for its historic first flight,” said Pence during his speech.
It won’t be the first time that Orion will go into space. It took its first four hours flight into space back in 2014. It was a test flight in which it took two complete rounds of the earth.
Along with the moon mission, NASA is also working with other private companies like SpaceX and Boeing for its other space missions. The first mission that Orion will carry out will only be possible in 2020 if Boeing builds its most powerful Space Launch System rocket on time.
Encouraging the astronauts and scientists present at the event, Pence also stated, “It will be American men and the first American woman who will step on the surface of the moon in the coming five years.”
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