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BeholdMyResponse t1_iwp4qda wrote

The Artemis 1 mission's Orion spacecraft is on its way to the moon's orbit, where it will circle the moon a couple of times, then fly back to Earth and land in the ocean. here's a NASA video showing its planned trajectory.

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nem0near t1_iwpajhw wrote

What is it doing in the moons orbit? Ik the purpose is to eventually send humans back to the moon, but how will Artemis 1 be helping to achieve this?

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left_lane_camper t1_iwpdu8o wrote

Before we sent humans to the moon on Apollo 11, there were a whole bunch of test flights that got progressively closer, so we could work out all the kinks and technical problems associated with landing on the moon.

The Gemini program was basically testing out basic things we would need to go to the moon: long endurance spaceflight, in-space rendezvous and formation flying, docking with another spacecraft, etc.

Then Apollo had a ton of flights before Apollo 11 (ten flights, plus the Apollo 1 disaster). Until Apollo 7 they were all uncrewed tests of the rockets, the capsules, the escape systems, etc.

Apollo 7 tested the command and service modules in space with an actual crew. They stayed in low earth orbit and did a full rundown of all the systems.

Apollo 8 carried the first humans to the moon. It was just the command and service modules with no lander, and orbited the moon before returning home.

Apollo 9 had a lunar lander as well, but stayed in low earth orbit, so the docking/undocking maneuvers could be tested and perfected and all the LM’s systems checked out.

Apollo 10 was everything but the landing, putting all the pieces together from the earlier flights and programs. They flew to the moon, orbited it, and had the first LM in lunar orbit with them, which they took down to just a few miles over the surface of the moon. It was a full dress rehearsal for the actual landing.

Artemis is just doing something similar.

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MrZorg58 t1_iwss8h8 wrote

Artemis is confirming a new type of orbit about the moon. A type of orbit they didn't do with any Apollo mission.

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BeholdMyResponse t1_iwpcfhw wrote

It's a test flight. One of the most important tests will be of the heat shield which has to withstand thousands of degrees of heat when Orion re-enters Earth's atmosphere at 25,000mph (40,324kph), but of course it's also a test of the SLS rocket that sends Orion into Earth orbit, the OMS engine and maneuvering thrusters that it uses while it's in space, and all the other hardware and software that will eventually be used to send people to the moon.

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Free_Stick_ t1_iwpdiem wrote

I don’t understand the purpose of sending humans to the moon. What are they going to achieve that a robot can not?

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BeholdMyResponse t1_iwpdvdp wrote

They're going to build a space station near the moon and possibly also a base on the surface in order to establish a permanent human presence there. The two main purposes aside from pure science are to learn how to live in deep space and on other planets, and to figure out how to mine the vast amounts of frozen water and minerals on the moon in order to make further space exploration easier. E.g. water has oxygen for breathing and hydrogen which can be used as fuel. It will be very useful for deep space exploration in the future if we don't have to bring it up from Earth.

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Free_Stick_ t1_iwpf6tv wrote

Thanks for your detailed educational response. Much appreciated

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Treezszz t1_iwpfg57 wrote

There’s some mysterious goo we need to bring there and see how it reacts close to the lunar surface

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Free_Stick_ t1_iwphqtn wrote

Does this have anything to do with Decepticons?

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Treezszz t1_iwpjovp wrote

It was a reference to kerbal space program. You make rockets and go places and do “science” and one of the science is observing mysterious goo

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Icy-Conclusion-3500 t1_iwpdtzg wrote

Prove we can still do it, while we prepare to test our systems for planetary outposts.

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WernherVonBraun_real t1_iwpbpbe wrote

It's just a test of the whole system all together

Artemis II will (hopefully) do the same thing, but with humans on board, kind of like what Apollo 8 did

And then, Artemis III should be the one to land

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Batmack8989 t1_iwp4cg4 wrote

IIRC, it is meant to be kind of an unmanned Apollo 8, go around and get back. I've been focused elsewhere though.

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Obvious_Cranberry607 t1_iwp7as6 wrote

Or Apollo 13 without the drama.

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Batmack8989 t1_iwp8cd4 wrote

If they didn't bring Jim Lovell, having been in both of these, to consult/comment, it was a wasted opportunity.

Edit: They might as well just call it "Lovell's run" at this point.

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catjam25 t1_iwp4ep3 wrote

Maybe this diagram will help you understand

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Artemis_I_map_October_2021.jpg/1280px-Artemis_I_map_October_2021.jpg

Check out the Wikipedia article too

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_1

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doc_nano t1_iwpw3nx wrote

Great graphic! My understanding from a little googling is that Apollo 11 took a little over 4 days to reach the moon. Do you know why the outbound transit is expected to take 8-14 days for the Artemis mission, per the graphic?

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catjam25 t1_iwqm6qf wrote

I’m definitely no expert, but my guess is that the motion and positioning of the moon relative to the earth is to blame for the longer trip.

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rhizomagic t1_iwp5f02 wrote

Artemis I is to prepare to send humans to the moon again. But we won’t have any manned missions for a few years.

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Jupiter3840 t1_iwrp3l2 wrote

May 2024 is the current plan for Artemis II, which will carry humans around the moon and back.

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Redshift2k5 t1_iwp6yax wrote

​

It's an unmanned flight that will ORBIT the moon, then come back and the empty crew capsule will land in the ocean.

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s1ngular1ty2 t1_iwsrni9 wrote

Yes it's going to the moon. No it's not landing. It's doing 2 flybys and coming back.

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stewake t1_iws8llf wrote

Along with the points made by other comments, this mission will bring 10 cubesats that will be released and will orbit the moon for an extended period of time. They will map the surface and scan for resources, giving intel for future missions.

Local resources on the moon allow us to plan our payload, and may present opportunity for interplanetary missions if the resources are abundant enough. Image being able to mine and create rocket fuel on the moon to use on trips to mars, Venus, etc.

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