UNITED STATES. The National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA) has big plans for 2024. The US space agency is planning to land the first woman ever on the moon through its Artemis program. Thus, NASA has outlined a $28bn plan to return to the moon by 2024.
US government plan for moon mission
President Donald Trump had signed the Space Policy Directive 1, in December 2017. The policy called for NASA to send humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. This policy includes long-term exploration and missions to other planets.
The first manned space program was Apollo 11 which successfully landed in Moon’s surface on 20 July 20 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were the main crew of the Apollo 11 spacecraft. In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo. Thus, the Artemis mission is named after the Greek goddess of the moon.
Only 12 humans have ever walked on the surface of the moon; all 12 were American men. The last person who walked on the moon was Gene Cernan in 1972.
NASA believes that more exploration of the moon will help the country establish a strategic presence in space. It will also help the US grow its international partnerships.
Around $1billion of the budget will be used for the development of a commercial human lunar system to take humans to the moon’s surface.
The Artemis Space Program
Meanwhile, Artemis I is on track to launch in 2021. Two unmanned test flights will be launched around the moon. However, NASA is now planning to send robots using commercial delivery services to the moon in 2021.
Artemis II is set to launch in 2023. It is the first scheduled crewed mission of NASA’s Orion spacecraft. This spacecraft will include crew who will perform a lunar flyby test and return to Earth.
Finally, Artemis III will be the second crewed mission of the Artemis program. However, this spacecraft will actually land on the moon surface along with the crew of astronauts.
Modern spacesuits will be provided to the astronauts for greater flexibility and movement. However, these spacesuits will be completely different from the spacesuits used by other Apollo-era astronauts.
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NASA is hoping to develop new mobility capabilities that will allow the astronauts to explore new regions on the moon.
Astronauts will collect lunar soil samples and conduct experiments for seven days. The Artemis program aims to search for resources such as water on the lunar surface which can be converted into other resources such as oxygen and fuel.
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