NASA Artemis II: Historic Moon Mission Set To Lift-Off After Multiple Failures, Check New Launch Date And Key Details Here

US Government’s Aeronautics and Space Administration agency all-set to launch Artemis II mission from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in early April. The mission was also launched number of times, but it failed due to hydrogen leaks and a stubborn helium problem that sent the rocket back into its hangar. 

The 10-day mission will carry Nasa astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a free-return trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. 

The crew of the mission will board the spacecraft that is to swing around the Moon using its gravity and come back to Earth without landing on the lunar surface. 

This is the first time that humans will travel aboard the Space launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft and will also be the farthest humans have travelled from Earth in the past 50 years. But due to the repeated delays and technical faults the question arises regarding what significant risks the Artemis II mission will face as the edges of spacecraft closer to the launchpad. 

The experts have raised three major concerns regarding the mission 

Can Artemis II re-enter Earth safely? 

When the astronauts return from the Moon, their spacecraft slams back into Earth’s atmosphere at around 40,000 km per hour which is enough speed to heat up the outer surface of the spacecraft up to the temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun. 

The only thing standing between the crew and that inferno is what is called a heat shield which is a thick protective layer at the base of the capsule designed to absorb and shed that heat. 

While uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022, engineers discovered the Orion capsule’s heat shield suffered unexpected damage during its high-speed return from the Moon. They had expected the heat, and the surface to get charred by it, but the material as a whole was supposed to stay intact and provide insulation. It didn’t. 

Instead, the material from the shield broke off unevenly, causing heat to build up inside the outer layer, trapping gases, and raising the internal pressure. Which then caused cracking and uneven shedding as the spacecraft dipped in and out of the atmosphere on its return to Earth. 

In Artemis 2, NASA is not replacing the heat shield. The agency is changing the re-entry path to minimise the intensity of heating. Re-entering the Earth without a redesigned heat shield is a risk NASA has decided to take willingly. 

Can Artemis II fly close to the Sun? 

The next major question that arises regarding the mission is whether it can fly close to the sun or not. The Earth is protected from the Sun’s most harmful radiation with the help of magnetic fields, which is an invisible shield that deflects charged particles streaming from the Sun. 

The protection vanishes once the astronauts leave Earth’s orbit. Without the field of protection, the astronauts could be exposed to the radiation emanating from the Sun, and the radiation can create issues for the spacecraft in the same way it happens during Artemis I. 

NASA recorded 24 instances of power distribution anomalies in Orion’s electrical power system during Artemis I and determined that radiation was the root cause. 

NASA is working on software changes and developing operational workarounds for Artemis II, but without a permanent hardware fix. There is high risk that further anomalies could lead to a loss of redundancy, inadequate power, and potential loss of vehicle propulsion. 

In easy terms, a bad solar event could knock out the very systems that are to bring the crew back to Earth after their long journey. 

Life support during mission

Inside the Orion capsule, a life support system continuously monitors and maintains oxygen, temperature, and cabin pressure. Basically, it monitors everything that keeps the crew alive. 

The previous mission of Artemis I carried no astronauts, but Artemis II will consist of a fully operational environmental control and life-support system letting astronauts live and work aboard Orion throughout the mission. 

The engineers and scientists are still working on issues related to life support systems as well as electrical system batteries during abort operations. 

NASA claims that sufficient progress has been made to proceed. However, the system will only truly be proven once the mission is completed  

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