After being postponed more than once, (1) the "Artemis 1" mission of the US Space and Aviation Agency (NASA) succeeded in launching towards the moon successfully, carrying 3 experimental dolls and 10 small satellites, in the first serious move in the plan to return to the moon. "Artemis 1" is part of a larger mission consisting of 3 partial missions, the second will be launched in 2024, and the third is expected to be launched in 2025.
The duration of the current mission ranges between 26 and 42 days from the moment of its launch, of which at least 6 days will take a far retrograde orbit around the moon (that is, it will rotate opposite the direction of the moon’s rotation), with a series of approaches, and during that the mission will launch small satellites of the “Cube” class. CubeSat" to study the lunar surface and build modern maps of the astronauts' landing areas. After that, the Orion spacecraft will return to Earth, then it will enter the atmosphere, protected by its heat shield, and land in the Pacific Ocean.
The "Artemis 1" mission uses the Space Launch System (SLS), which is a new missile launch system for spacecraft with superior capabilities. According to NASA, it is the most powerful launch system ever developed by the agency, and it can send a payload of approximately 20 tons to the moon.
On top of the rocket is the astronaut capsule called "Orion", which is the latest version of the astronaut capsule ever.
Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with Orion crew capsule.
(Reuters)
"Artemis 1" is a test of the ability of the missile launch system that operates for the first time, as well as the capabilities of "Orion" to work in space and return to Earth, and with its success, it is expected that the next flight will carry astronauts to the moon, but they will not go down to it, and assuming the success of the second flight in 2024 will be launched The third and final flight in 2025, carrying astronauts for the actual descent to the moon's surface, at a total cost of the full mission estimated at about $100 billion.
New enemy
This huge amount undoubtedly raises questions about the goals of the United States of America to ascend to the moon again, nearly half a century after the Apollo flights that succeeded in landing on the moon for the first time in 1969. Of course, we can expect that political motives have a strong role in such a mission, as This mission is presented as an extension of the previous Apollo mission, and begins where the Americans first landed on the Moon (in Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo).
The US administration seems to aim, then, to revive the sense of privilege, especially in an atmosphere in which China is making strides in space.
In fact, Chinese officials recently announced a plan to jointly establish a lunar research station with Russia, which includes a steady presence of astronauts on the moon.
This comes after Beijing's various successes in this field, for example, the Chinese probe "Chang E 4" (2) landed in January 2019 on the other side of the moon, which does not meet us on Earth, in a precedent that is the first of its kind in history. , Where Chinese television announced the news, showing a set of pictures showing the land of the moon from the other side, amid great joy at the achievement.
He landed in January 2019 on the other side of the moon, which does not meet us on Earth, in a precedent that is the first of its kind in history.
(Shutterstock)
The Chinese vehicle aims to conduct an accurate geological survey of that area.
For several reasons, including clarifying and studying the differences and differences between the two sides of the moon.
On the other hand, the spacecraft aims to conduct biological experiments to study how silkworms, potatoes, and some other plants grow and develop on this side of the moon, while collecting important observations related to radio astronomy and the benefits that can be obtained from the calmness of this lunar destination.
Of course, we cannot miss the Chinese radio telescope (3) with a diameter of 500 meters (the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope), or FAST, as it is known for short, which consists of about 4,500 metal plates of a triangular shape;
It is the largest on Earth now, and we have not yet talked about the escalating Chinese space missile launch rates year after year, and the Chinese space station that has already started operating, and which will become the only space station in the world after the retirement of the International Space Station in less than 10 years.
The United States is setting off to the moon again, motivated by the challenges of competition, then, and benefiting from the lessons of the success of the International Space Station, which was built by 5 countries and used by astronauts from 20 countries.
In Artemis, many European countries participate in both the rocket and the astronaut capsule, and it is expected that a greater number of countries will participate in the upcoming missions, up to 21 countries so far, most of which are European countries in addition to Japan and Australia. This scientific diplomacy strengthens the position of the United States of America among its allies, and show it as a center of scientific progress that does not practice exclusion.
These political tricks were the reason for the victory of the United States of America during its struggle with the Soviets in the fifties and sixties during the Cold War when it won the race to climb the moon for the first time, and it is now engaging in a new conflict with China, but in reality the political weight of flights to the moon is not the same. This was the case half a century ago, and if the reason was only political, the United States might have canceled the idea because of its high cost, but this time it has a new and different purpose related to the race for resources.
Lunar economy
The moon has changed a lot in the half century since humans first ascended to it. Now we know that it is not just a "wonderful ruin," as Buzz Aldrin, the American astronaut who participated in the moon mission at the end of the sixties, said.
Our idea of the moon is no longer that it is an extended, barren land, without water, air, or any significant resources, after recent research has shown that the mineral salts on the surface of the moon contain a huge amount of oxygen, silicon, and ice water.
In addition, there are aspirations for the possibility of extracting one of the isotopes of helium (helium-3)(4) from the moon. The earth contains only several kilograms of this substance, while the lunar soil is believed to contain an estimated one million tons of it due to direct interaction with sunlight through millions of Over the years, helium-3 could help develop safer, and by far cheaper, forms of nuclear reactions, thus saving an enormous amount of energy annually, and the above was just to name a few.
Today it is believed that the country that can first control a huge amount of space resources will undoubtedly have the strongest economy in the world, but there is one problem in this context, as international space law is ambiguous when it comes to how business can be conducted in space Through it, the Outer Space Treaty (5), which was negotiated through the United Nations and entered into force for the first time in 1967 with the participation of more than 100 countries, says that the moon and other celestial bodies “shall be available for exploration and use.”
The United States takes the view that “use” means that people can freely extract resources from space. A few other countries like Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates have also adopted this view, in an attempt to attract nascent space companies, which are specifically concerned with the plowing of space resources, and have opposed all Russia and China have this approach, and they said that any use of resources must be made for the benefit and interests of all countries, regardless of their degree of economic or scientific development.
Space militarization
Well, the matter is not limited to the desire to plow resources, but it extends to something deeper than that.
The United States, Russia, and China all have ambitions to send missions to the moon in the next decade, and they will all be heading to roughly the same place, which is the south polar region of the moon, with its precious potential resources and expected long-term economic potential. With this renewed push for the moon, and the lucrative returns that may result, the interest Military is bound to appear at some point.
The American military interest in the moon dates back to the fifties of the last century, when the US military proposed the establishment of a manned military base on the moon called "Project Horizon" to conduct missile tests, especially nuclear ones, but these proposals did not gain any momentum, but recently it has The US and Chinese militaries have talked about conducting military operations outside Earth's orbit for years, and the superpowers are already working on developing defense systems that can exit the atmosphere. This means that military operations have already crossed the planet's barrier heading into space.
In this context, the US Space Force, which is a branch of the US military established in 2019, is taking action on everything related to outer space, and it is expected that that force will have a role that may lead to the involvement of the US military in future lunar operations for security purposes, and of course it will notify Other countries, such as China, need to escalate their military activity and raise it to the level of the moon. Thus, whoever is on the moon first will undoubtedly have more control and experience.
From the moon to Mars
The trip to Mars is completely different from the trip to the moon. The distance alone is enough. Instead of the few days we need to reach the moon, it will take 6-7 months to reach Mars.
(Shutterstock)
But in addition to all of the above, it remains that there is a set of scientific goals for that trip related to a path that NASA started decades ago to study the origins of the solar system by understanding the composition of the moon, but this time the matter expands to a giant called “From the Moon to Mars (6) (Moon) To Mars).
In fact, the entire Artemis mission is a miniature version of a larger experiment, which is the trip to Mars, not only to ensure the quality and accuracy of missiles, space capsules and other technologies, but also to conduct an extensive study of the impact of space on humans for long periods, as well as our ability to build entire stations on Lands other than ours, and the possibility of using lunar resources as fuel or water sources for astronauts in those stations, all of this will be studied over a long period of time up to the 30s of the current century.
With the completion of the study of the lunar situation, the first manned flight to Mars is expected to take off.
The trip to Mars is completely different from the trip to the moon. The distance alone is enough. Instead of a few days that we need to reach the moon, it will take 6-7 months to reach Mars. Throughout that period, the astronauts will remain in zero gravity mode, and they will be affected by cosmic rays. Add Therefore, there is a business model that assumes that building Martian stations with our current resources will be so expensive that no one will be able to do that, and then we must professionalize building stations depending on the resources of the object on which we land (whether it is a moon or a planet), and the experience on the moon will be useful in that matter.
In any case, it remains that the return of man to the moon will be - no doubt - exciting, especially with newer cameras, a fully digital world, and newer technologies by a wide margin compared to the sixties of the last century, so the experience will undoubtedly be impressive for those who will contemplate it, except that the real exceptional event What we are waiting for is the landing of the first human being on Mars. We do not yet know which country will succeed in that, but the Americans are racing fiercely in this regard.
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Sources:
1- ARTEMIS I
2- 1,000 days on the moon!
China's Chang'e 4 lunar far side mission hits a big milestone
3- Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope
4- Helium-3 mining on the lunar surface
5- Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
6-Moon to Mars